Toxydoll - Hawkward [AUT Records 037]

Put on the circuit on October 23rd, 2k17 via AUT Records is "Hawkward", the second studio album by Toxydoll, a genre bending quartet comprised of Vicent Domenech, Alberto Cavenati, Bob Meanza and Olgo Nosova. Introducing their new longplay piece with "Acanounia", a captivating, lively and score'esque take on Jazz Noir with a spy flic touch the pack of four immediately catches our attention, delivering a huge, atmospheric and glitched out mid-track breakdown and brutal drum eruptions whilst weighing in a more Funk-driven approach and Crossover-resembling, slightly distorted bass lines alongside a whole lotta noise in "Whole Lotta Dog". Following up is "18 Triggered Off", a tense piece of Late Night Jazz perfectly depicting the feel of strolling through the empty streets of a fog-covered big city, past midnight in late fall, whilst dabbling with a bit of a FreeJazz attitude. "Obatala" is a highly percussive, fever'ish interpretation of a traditional Cuban theme and the first vocal piece on "Hawkward" which interestingly is more reminiscent of what westerners might identify as African Traditional, kind of , "Castellana" delivers more of a solemn, introspective feel and an obvious hint of all-embracing melancholia and "Mr. Trotzkopf" is built out of deep, partly electronic and part Field Recording-resembling atmospheres, lonely desert guitars and what can be well described as Dark Jazz. Towards the end we see "Viruta" taking over seamlessly, immediately diving into highly agitated, buzzing Jazz realms bringing forth a massive crescendo as a grand mid-track climax and the final cut named "Chasm" is the most far out and experimental cut in this longplay effort, fusing more Jazz Noir / Future Jazz with an isolatinist urban vibe surprisingly turning into tender romanticism and musical crooning towards the tunes end as a sweet and unexpected closure.