Review: Haishen – Awaken the Endless Deep

Style: Progressive Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Dream Theater, Gojira, Tool
Country: United States (NY)
Release date: 09 May 2024

Much is made of the importance of first impressions, but in my selection of albums from the Subway promo spreadsheet, they are particularly paramount. My personal experience in picking the subject of my next review consists of scrolling through said document, clicking on any unclaimed album whose genre tags don’t immediately put me off (sorry, blackened gurgle-slam bands) and throwing on the first song on the album for a few minutes while looking through the promo material to see if it grabs me. In this most recent trip to the promo well, album after album seemed to slip through my attention like water through a sieve. Oh, that’s mid. Oh, that’s good, but the band just broke our 20k Spotify listener cap. Oh, that’s bad, but not in, like, a way that’s fun to write about, just painful. Oh, that’s also mid. And so forth. 

So when Haishen‘s debut album opened with the sweet, sweet clarion call of a sick-ass guitar lead wailing out over the sound of cresting waves, you can bet I drank it down with the fervor of a thirsty man in the desert. The band, led by frontman and guitarist Xuhao’s punchy riffs, crash their way through opener “Crimson Sun” with aplomb, cranking out powerful triplet-meter instrumentals, anthemic, battle-ready choruses, and one particularly delightful little surprise where the instruments all fall silent for a single second’s worth of vocal harmony. It’s a ripping, forceful opener, and thankfully the rest of the album delivers similar levels of muscle throughout, while venturing into more ambitious, lengthy song structures to keep things from getting stale. The band’s name translates to “Sea God” and, much like the seas themselves, Awaken the Endless Deep is ever-changing, from soft, becalmed ambience (“20,000 Leagues”, “Pyrrhic Victory”) to raging, thrashing tempests of sound (“Leviathan”, “Undersea Battle”) and everywhere in between. Despite these constant shifts, few moments ever sound truly disjointed, and there’s a sensible, water-like flow beneath the churning madness.

Genre-wise, Haishen are difficult to fully pin down beyond the general banner of “progressive metal”. The closest overall comparison would probably be the more proggy, less sludgy side of Mastodon– thick riffs and intricate drumming, underpinning vocals that run the gamut from fully clean melodies to harsh shouts, though the production here has a much cleaner feel to it even in its heaviest moments. Beyond that, though, the band taps into aggressive thrashy passages, bits of Dream Theater-esque noodliness (particularly in Xuhao’s guitar lines), and a dose of fuzzed-out post-rock atmospherics that takes center stage in interlude “20,000 Leagues”. The most recognizable influence comes in the form of certain odd-meter, bass-led riffs that make it immediately obvious that these guys listen to a lot of Tool, particularly in closing track “Nüwa Awakens”. Not the most original thing in the world, but it’s well-executed and comes across more like just another tool (heh) in the band’s kit than a crutch.

Speaking of bass, I have to give a particular shoutout to Justin Montione’s work here, because not only does he constantly crank out killer lines that are just the right amount of self-indulgent, but his tone is incredible– thick, meaty and full of richly textured goodness that sounds great whether it’s taking the lead or underpinning the riffs. Drummer Randy Rowe is no slouch either, though his tight rhythmic contributions aren’t in the spotlight nearly as often. In fact, the instrumental performances throughout are top-notch, particularly in the back-to-back epic centerpieces of the album, “Goddess in the Machine” and “Flesh of the Earth, Child of the Sea”. The former is a sixteen-and-a-half-minute beast that easily justifies its runtime through sheer variety across its three parts, with lush atmospherics and glittering guitar arpeggios giving way to steadily-heavier riffs, a lengthy interlude full of tricky rhythms and intricate solo work, and finally a return back to soft atmospherics that crescendo to a triumphant conclusion. The latter, meanwhile, is just an absolute jam, with an absolutely ripping mid-song instrumental– seriously, when Xuhao shouts “Go!” and drops out to let the rhythm section lay down a killer double-time beat, I feel a primal instinct to immediately start banging my head, wherever I am. It was a bit inconvenient listening to it while shopping for groceries, but thankfully I managed to resist doing too much damage to the canned goods aisle.

You’ll notice I gave specific praise to the instrumentals just then, and that’s because my main gripes with this album come from some of Xuhao’s vocal work. Now, to be clear, he’s definitely got a good deal of talent behind the mic, with plenty of versatility and some genuinely powerful harsh vocals– check out the vicious shrieks and guttural growls in the second part of “Goddess in the Machine”– and even his weakest moments are far from unlistenable. Still, though, he racks up nearly as many misses as he does hits; some of his cleans come across as flat and nasal in a manner unbecoming of the epic scope of the album’s concept, and occasionally his shouted verses can come across as snotty instead of genuinely aggressive. Notably, he seems to sound better the more power and energy he puts in, as evidenced by late-album ballad “Pyrrhic Victory”: the softer opening lines feel pitchy and amateurish in spots, but as he ramps up the emotionality and volume in the final high notes, it ends up sticking the landing.

Vocal issues aside, however, Awaken the Endless Deep is an excellent album. Its narrative throughline draws upon the Chinese myth of the creator goddess Nüwa mending the heavens to create a tale of clashing deities, raging sea serpents, and a drowning sailor transformed by the goddess’s power into a water-breathing sword-armed cyborg to slay her foes. It is, simply put, rad as hell, and the tempestuous riffs and dramatic melodies of the album are a perfect sonic palette to tell such a tale. Every transition feels like it makes sense, every new passage or returning leitmotif works, and the sheer energy and drive that Haishen have put into this album is absolutely infectious. This is a truly special debut, and I eagerly await whatever voyage the band will sail off on next.

Recommended tracks: Crimson Sun, Goddess in the Machine, Flesh of the Earth, Child of the Sea
You may also like: Pryne, Sermon, CrowsVsRavens
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram

Haishen is:
– Chris “Xuhao” Xu (lead vocals, guitars)
– Justin Montione (bass, backing vocals)
– Randy Rowe (drums, backing vocals, synths, samples)

with:
– Jason “Jocko” Randall: additional vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5, and 6
– Sally Louise: additional vocals on track 2