· By Mattias Forsgren
Icons Creating Evil Art signs Swedish rock band Hong Faux for publishing. New album Desolation Years out in February 24th (Golden Robot Records)
Ever since Hong Faux started their journey from blog to blog and finally all the way to radio and MTV, people have tried to label their music and figure out the meaning of the band's name. Still, more than a decade later, they are impossible to foresee; Teamed up with Golden Robot Records, the band is now about to release their third album.
"Desolation Years" is Hong Faux's anticipated follow up to "A Message from Dystopia". The album opens up a hole in the gut, peeks inside to try to understand what's going on in there. Heavy riffs, melodic passages and the witty musical turns that characterizes Hong Faux are all there but this time with a modern twist. Introspective lyrics in a tug of war with heavy riffing and melodic transitions in a dark soundtrack to modern life are the building blocks of "Desolation Years" - Hong Faux's attempt at painting a musical picture of the void between how it is and how it should be.
Hong Faux formed in 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden, by four guys who had a love for the heavy riffs of the 70s rock and metal bands, and the melodies and energy of the 90s grunge and alternative bands. When they fused these influences, the band's unique sound took shape. A London promoter called their sound "Old school super sludgy riffology with blues wailin' vox". One of the things the band members all dig on the same level is the harder bands that came out of Seattle in the early nineties, and with a few added ingredients, you get the heavy stoner riff galore with strong melodic vocal parts that honor the harmonic complexity of the grunge era.
2012 the debut "The Crown that wears the head" was released and immediately resonated with the rock crowd, especially in Germany. The album was exceptionally well recieved in media and lasted the full eight weeks allowed on the German Rock and Metal DJ Chart and was praised by magazines like Classic Rock, Slam and Metal Hammer. The band was even invited to do a one hour TV broadcast at the legendary Rockpalast, sharing the bill with Rival Sons.
In late October 2015 Hong Faux released their second full length album "A Message from Dystopia" which musically, as well as lyrically, takes a good look at modern life through the lens of someone on the fringe of society. The album was co-produced by Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames) and the sound was even bigger and heavier than their debut, while at the same time containing even catchier songs attracting a wider audience. The record got top reviews in Europe with Classic Rock Magazine Germany setting the bar with the headline: "Hits, hits and more hits"
The four-piece has done shows all over Europe, sharing stages with such diverse bands as D-A-D, Clutch, Graveyard, Danko Jones, Coheed and Cambria and Babyshambles.
Hong Faux new album Desolation Years out in February 24th, 2023 on Golden Robot Records, and is published by Icons Creating Evil Art.