Description

Tracklisting:

1. oceanriver
2. five minutes of resistance
3. sultana
4. rocking chair
5. a poem
6. wild geese yell
7. the dragonfighter
8. counted is bygone
9. trainer

What comes out of the speakers deserves only one description: M.O.N.S.T.R.O.U.S! In any possible way. Monstrous sound, monstrous songwriting, monstrous class! Beehoover manage to push their ridiculously powerful vehicle in a different direction without losing grip. It is still there – theee Beehoover sound that you will recognize, that makes this band so special: bass and drums, nothing else and a tone that no one else has. The capture/release rhythms, the call & response between the two members and good gawwwd, those riffs! Tons of’em! Enough to have an average rockband to ride on for the next ten thousand years.

But here ends the past! While the predecessor “Heavy Zooo” was a hook-ladden, angst-filled soundtrack to riot, rampage and party, “Concrete Catalyst” now sees the band elaborating their songwriting into unexpected finesse. Touching prog-ladden textures and unexpected changes, creating distinct walls of sound and incorporating structures that make them leaving the heavy rock cluster at ease, “Concrete Catalyst” is a monolith that is so much more than a collection of songs. If there ever was a reason for using the word “album” in conjunction with a long-play record it would be records like this one! Narrative and conceptual composition that is here. The whole album presents itself in a colorful dignity that leaves you breathless. While it’s obvious that Beehoover seem to take their integral parts much more serious than ever before their special and distinct humor still shines on “Concrete Catalyst”. There simply is no category where you can lump this in.

Again, the whole production was on their very own shoulders – Recorded & mixed by the band themselves in their own rehearsal room/ studio in less than 30 hours. The artwork this time is delivered by the Belgian sculptor/ carver/ freeform artist Wim Delvoye (www.wimdelvoye.be), who became famous through his tattooed pigs and even more his invention and installation of “Cloaka”, the “poo machine”, a fully functioning machine that simulates the human digestion process. Wim Delvoye kindly gave permission to use pictures of his laser-cut steel worked sculptures figuring things like cement trucks and caterpillars in a cathedral-like way. The artwork became a true piece of art by using his works and symbolises a paradoxon on its own: with concrete symbolizing the last consequence of inertia, there is no need nor reason to catalyse.

For us here at Exile On Mainstream this album is a landmark, a peak in history of this label and once again a goal where we’ve been heading to without knowing it could exist until we had it in our hands. This band deserves superstardom of the highest order. Full stop. Or at least a spin in your player with concentrated listening. Are you with us?