Mad Hatter 2.0 have been through the mill. In the last 3 years they’ve released 2 EP’s and what amounts to two full albums, despite lineup changes and constant gigging. With a tour lined up from June til October and the release of this album looming on May 1st, hatches are being battened, walls fortified and the floors of venues up and down the country are being tested for bounce resistance.
Deconstruct follows on from where previous release E.M.T left off, though the dials have been turned skyward. Hatter have always prided themselves on a tight, cohesive sound in the live arena, and so it is as the feedback and drums commence proceedings. When Kiss The Curb gets started, the left-field rhythm may surprise long term Hatter fans, but the banging begins not long after, and bang it certainly does.
An odd factor on this release is the introduction of some unexpected sections – how much of this is down to changing guitarists is unclear, but the blown-out breakdown at the end of …Curb was unexpected. Recent single Stomp is pit-beasting floor fodder, with some serious soloing conduct from guitarist Dave, and The Cyst contains a surprising tip of the hat to Machine Head, and the first signs of Marc’s clean vocals begin to appear. The closing section calls Rattamahatta to mind, which is never a bad thing.
It would seem that a number of events have transpired in the lives of the Hatters to the point where they find believing in others difficult, if not impossible. As a result of this, the whole record tingles with barely-contained aggression and disgust.
There is a sadness to the gnarl of Mind Over Matter, the melodic sections taking a sombre tone. This explains Defiance, a shockingly tender and open ballad complete with strings. Though the obvious touchstone is Metallica’s balladeering work, having those vocals up front lends proceedings a much more fragile tone. A true glimpse into the mind and character of the albums’ narrator, this affecting piece is delivered with a great deal more restraint and softness than the tracks either side. Perhaps this explains its proximity to the balls-out intro of Forgiven.
It is very difficult to keep a whole album on the ragged edge, but this has been managed by the performances being properly captured by Freefall Studios. Every note, word, strike and nuance has been pushed up the line to give maximum impact. If there’s one complaint, it’s that the bass could have been much meaner and more present in the mix, especially as everything else sounds so good, and in a live setting the bottom end is consistently savage.
As the album draws to a close with You Sold Me A Lie, the abiding memory of this record is one of purification. The vitriol and anger that fuels 90% of the album was put in context by the over-arching gravity of Defiance, and indeed this track heralds a massive change in direction for this battle-scarred mob.
In the same way as hearing Down’s II, Deconstruct smacks of a heavy album with a core of unspoken frailty, as though the power and malevolence of the music itself enablers the narrator to face the world. It is uncommon to have such a group inadvertently admit to their concerns, rarer still to find those concerns enunciated in such open terms.
If you want to throw yourself about, bellowing yourself hoarse to some direct, grooving metal, this is the record to do it to. But at the heart of it all are the people involved, and they are as human as anyone else.