Tag Archive: Mark Hawkins


Mark Hawkins Plays Grandpa’s Guitars

Filed Under: Audio, Downloads, New music
Apr.21, 2011

Our good friend Mark Hawkins (Of Soul Cycle, Assimilated Mind Phase, and Robots Pulling Levers) has recently released a solo album—appropriately titled Grandpa’s Guitars—that consists of mostly acoustic material, and boy does it shred more than any acoustic album should.

I can only imagine a handful of people can make sweep picking on an acoustic guitar sound this cool. Pick it up by clicking through to Bandcamp via the above player and paying whatever you’re willing to give for it, even if it is nothing. Diversify your library with some acoustic instrumentals!

- JR

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The Global Warming Extravaganza: The Dumbest Smartasses or the Smartest Dumbasses in Metal?

Filed Under: Audio, Listen To This!
Mar.09, 2011

If the creators of South Park decided to make a progressive rock/metal album, it would probably sound like The Global Warming Extravaganza‘s debut album Debaucherous Adventure, a genre skipping adventure through comedy, satire, and satan.

Opening with the completely fucking bonkers 19-minute epic of “Evolution,” this album absolutely hysterical and features the vocal brilliance and shred of our good friend Mark Hawkins and his pal Matt Henderson doing the majority of the nonsense. If you can listen to “Evolution” and not laugh out loud at least once, you have no soul and you should probably do something about that. Check out Debaucherous Adventure below and bask in the one-liners you can repeat on facebook to your friends that get it. Yay inside jokes!

 

 

- JR

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Mark Hawkins and Vishal J. Singh are Robots Pulling Levers

Filed Under: New music, Upcoming releases
Dec.20, 2010

Mark Hawkins (Soul Cycle, Assimilated Mind Phase) and Vishal J. Singh (Amogh Symphony) are no strangers to collaboration. Mark Hawkins gets around like a guitar whore (he’s one of the classy brothel types, not some street walker!) and has worked with Vishal on a number of different songs. It was only a matter of time before the two had a project together.

I present to you: Robots Pulling Levers.

Mark tells me they hope to have an album out in 2011, which will perhaps feature a number of different guest musicians. This will no doubt be some killer shred.

Stay tuned!

- JR

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Amogh Symphony – The Quantum Hack Code

Filed Under: Reviews
Nov.29, 2010

Amogh Symphony
The Quantum Hack Code

01. The Fall OF World Defense System
02. Dvorzhetckii’s Prophecy
03. Osiris 1
04. The Quantum Barrier Code Interpretation By Mainframe
05. Polymorphic Infection: Releasing Proteus
06. X-Karna: Activated
07. The Nullification Method: Oni vs. Proteus
08. Decoded: Karnosiris
09. The Collapse Of Q-Web And Osiris 1

[Platinum Selling Artist | TBA]

Vishal J. Singh has got to be one of the greater unsung guitar virtuosos of our day. I had never heard of him or his project Amogh Symphony until my friend Mark Hawkins started doing acoustic jazz songs with him (alongside Luke Jaeger of Sleep Terror and Hunab Ku fame). Through Mark, I eventually discovered Amogh Symphony, a project fusing progressive and technical metal with several styles of jazz to create something akin to, as Mark described to me, Animals As Leaders on meth. The description isn’t far off at all, as the India-based Amogh Symphony, is heavier and jazzier than Animals as Leaders.

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Assimilated Mind Phase Release New 30-minute Track, ‘Omega’

Filed Under: Audio, New music
Nov.17, 2010

The totally rad Mark Hawkins/Kevin Suter project Assimilated Mind Phase (or AMP for short) has released their 2nd EP in two months, Omega. Omega is actually a solid ~30 minute track of epic proportions. If you didn’t catch this experimental guitar tech duo before, stop being a slacker and check out AMP on Bandcamp. If you have the time, listen to “Omega” below.

If you dig it, you can buy it for $5. That’s roughly 17 cents per minute. If that’s not a deal, I don’t know what is.

- JR

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Happy Halloween from Mark Hawkins and Chris Catharsis! Download “Tales From The Crypt” for Free!

Filed Under: Audio, Downloads, New music
Oct.31, 2010

In the holiday spirit, Chris Catharsis and Mark Hawkins (the dudes of Soul Cycle) recorded a cover of the theme song from the classic television show, Tales From The Crypt. It’s relatively short, but it’s got a bitchin’ solo.

Let’s get spooky!

Happy Halloween!

- JR

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THE WORLD IS NOT READY FOR THIS.

Filed Under: General News, Upcoming releases
Oct.07, 2010

It’s Wednesday, 1:10 PM. I’m sitting in the file office of my place of work with my headphones on, playing Daath’s new album while typing some of my thoughts into Word. I’m staring at a Photoshop window with an open project where I put Serious Cat’s head on False Nate’s body. Much to my annoyance, I can’t pick up any unsecured wi-fi from my spot. I suppose it’s for the best though; I have some work to do… I think. I’m also tempting fate by leaning back in my rolling chair. One of these days the wheels will slip and I’ll fly back, yanking the headphone cable out of my laptop (and effectively drowning the quiet office in a sudden burst of noisy metal) and sending my head into the wall of file cabinets behind me. Imagine taking one of those handles to the back of the dome. I can certainly wait for that day, even though the thought kind of amuses me. This is how I spend much of my time.

But lately, my mind keeps going back to the rumors. I’ve heard them floating around, but surely they were pipe dreams and would lead nowhere. After all, a blogger has no real power to effect anything, right? I scoffed at the idea and went back to “work.”

Out of nowhere, I get a text message from musician Tre Watson that simply read, “Announce the collaboration.  Release the Kraken!!!”

“Oh shit,” I thought to myself. “So it’s really happening…”

Apparently during my mundane office routine, my universe had been thoroughly rocked. The world is not ready for what is about to go down…

What I jokingly predicted came true. Mark Hawkins, Tre Watson, and Drewsif Stalin will be doing a song together. Never before has the world of bedroom producers compiled such a huge amount of win in one place. I said I wouldn’t know what to do with myself, and I still don’t.

It’s too early for details, but Mark saw what I had written and emailed both Tre and Drewsif, whom both seemed stoked on the idea, so now it’s happening.

Get a change of pants ready, folks.

- JR

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Mark Hawkins and A.J. Lewandowski Throw Down Some Prog Tech Death

Filed Under: Audio, Downloads
Oct.01, 2010

There’s three guitarists that seem to get constant exposure on HBIH, and that’s Tre Watson, Drewsif Stalin, and Mark Hawkins. Seems like each one is doing something new each week, which I’m obligated to post. Not just because all three are friends, but because they consistently put out new great material. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if all three collaborated on a track. The world’s not ready for that yet, and it doesn’t deserve it.

But on point: Mark Hawkins of Soul Cycle and famed YouTube bassist A.J. Lewandowski (aka Cannibalistic Zombie, ex-Enfold Darkness) have collaborated on a new version of Mark Hawkins’ MK Ultra. It’s as awesome as you’d think. Stream and download below!

Oh yes.

- JR

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Exclusive Album Debut: Soul Cycle – Soul Cycle

Filed Under: Audio, New music
Sep.14, 2010

My buddies in Soul Cycle decided that they wanted to premiere their debut album on HBIH, and I’m more than happy to make that happen. It’s definitely a killer album, full of epic melodic metal and shred, with balls intact! Give this album a listen below!

EDIT: Soul Cycle is now available via Bandcamp. GET IT NOW.

<a href="http://soulcyclemetal.bandcamp.com/album/soul-cycle">Soul Cycle by Soul Cycle</a>

- JR

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Soul Cycle: The HBIH interview

Filed Under: Interviews
Sep.14, 2010

For the last year, guitarists Chris Catharsis and Mark Hawkins have been toiling away on their melodic metal project Soul Cycle. Their album is finally ready to be released, making it’s debut here on HBIH today at 6!

I had the pleasure of talking with the guys to get the skinny on the creation of Soul Cycle and what else those two very busy and talented dudes had going on. CHECK IT.

Alright, so SOUL CYCLE…

Mark Hawkins: Ahh, those guys suck.

Chris Catharsis: Yes, the NY funk band who stole our name! Before we had it!

I SAW THAT! I was on last.fm today and I all, “What the hell is this jank?”

Mark Hawkins: yeah they totally had it before… I hope there is no legal battle

The last.fm had all of 12 listeners. Fuck em. Hell, one of the 12 was for me listening to your album. Or something, shit I don’t know.

Mark Hawkins: Haha yeah, that’s what I figured when I saw their MySpace… like shit, I don’t think this band has really done anything in a long time, plus our music is wildly different.

So… How did you two guys meet?

Chris Catharsis: It’s a metal kind of romance story, actually.

Mark Hawkins: Ahhh yes, the story of me and Chris. We go way back. Enchanted lovers from past lives… haha but seriously, Chris was about to release an EP and he was looking for a guest solo on a song and posted a status about it

Chris Catharsis: I had a track up for an EP I was working on at the time, and Mark sent me a MySpace message asking if he could drop a solo on one of the tracks.  I said of course and we hit it off from there.  We went on to create two more music projects, Kongregation and Rape the Dead, before we finally met earlier this year at a Cannibal Corpse show in Jacksonville.

Mark Hawkins: Yeah, Kongregation was the first then Rape and now the Cycle. So Chris and I have only met once to celebrate and have beer.

Chris Catharsis: Hopefully many more beers to be shared lay ahead in our future.

Mark Hawkins: I think we should have beers whenever we release something…we are about due for more beer!

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