Durcel Haze – Down The Rabbit Hole CD (Hicktown Records)

It’s been a while since this band stumbled upon my radar. After all, Hicktown Records are pros in promoting the bands on their roster, so it was nearly impossible to avoid this one. Durcel Haze is a Tyrolean alternative rock band that’s been active for a while now. After three ear-appealing singles, such as The Void, Maze, and Unleashed Confusion, Durcel Haze unleashed their debut full-length release named Down The Rabbit Hole. The band named the album after Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Caroll. You will unquestionably hear/see some resemblances between these two by the visual psychedelics enclosed within this release. I have to admit this digipack release looks eye-peeling, mind-boggling, and amazing at the same time. Whoever is responsible for designing such beautiful packaging has done an incredible job. The way the modern neon colors blend with retro-futurism blows my mind. Also, if six-sided digipack packaging isn’t enough artwork and info, you still have a booklet that provides even more details about the band and this release.

Musicwise, Durcel Haze mainly explore alternative rock, but there’s always more than meets the eye when it comes to this particular genre. You’ll hear how music genres like hard rock, grunge, stoner, indie rock, and pop punk inspired these guys to assemble this excellent debut material. Each of the beforementioned genres is equally present in the mix, but their presence varies depending on the ambiance, mood, and energy of the song. Still, the only important thing about Down The Rabbit Hole is that Durcel Haze love their alternative rock sound as dynamic as possible. It would be an understatement to say these creative musicians use an already proven formula while writing, composing, and recording their songs. Quite the contrary, each track differs from another, but together they serve as a compact material that offers countless listening pleasures. Therefore, you’ll notice some numbers have that vividly hearable eighties hard rock or glam rock feel, while the others lean much more towards grunge, stoner, and nineties rock sound.

Still, Durcel Haze incorporated enough modern indie rock and pop-punk maneuvers into their songs, so the entire album sounds like a flawlessly performed piece of alternative rock artistry enhanced with the retro feel. Also, it’s good to mention these guys are not joking around with their ideas and musicianship. Every composition carries more than enough excellent chants, singalongs, riffs, chord progressions, themes, melodies, harmonies, basslines, and rhythmic maneuvers. And all of that with the purpose of indulging your listening apparatus. If this is something that sounds attractive to you, head over to Hicktown Records for more information about ordering Down The Rabbit Hole on CD.