What's New: Humming Whale
Humming Whale’s Ocular: When Prog Metal Gets a Synth-Soaked Soul
https://youtu.be/GE0yXm3pKqU
Finnish prog metallers Humming Whale have finally dropped Ocular, the first single from their long-gestating debut Chasing Rabbits, ,and it’s a hell of a way to announce themselves. No bombast, no empty promises: just eight years of simmering ideas, analog synths, and a band unafraid to let their songs breathe.
The track started life in 2016 as a riff-driven sketch, but by the time it emerged from Lassi Paunonen’s studio, it had mutated into something richer. The guitars still bite, but now they’re wrapped in layers of warm synths and acoustic percussion, think Opeth’s ghostly folk detours meeting TesseracT’s groove, with a Finnish melancholy all its own. Lassi’s description of the process? "We got inspired." Understatement
of the year.
What’s striking is how unrushed this feels. Humming Whale formed in 2006, but it took nearly a decade to lock in their sound, and another nine to finish this album. Drummer Matias Kuure (the newest addition, joining in 2023) slots in like he’s been there since day one, pushing the rhythm section into proggier territory without sacrificing the song’s hypnotic pull. And Aki Hahto’s vocals? They’re not here to show off; they’re here to serve the mood.
Ocular doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it polishes it, smooth enough to glide, heavy enough to leave a mark. If this is the appetizer, Chasing Rabbits might just be the full-course meal prog metal’s been craving.
Members:
Aki Hahto - Vocals and percussion
Lassi Paunonen - Guitar and synthesizers
Ville Kiiveri - Bass
Matias Kuure - Drums
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