Band:	Haunt
Album:	If Icarus Could Fly
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	March 15, 2019
A review by:	RaduP

01. Run And Hide
02. It's In My Hands
03. Cosmic Kiss
04. Ghosts
05. Clarion
06. Winds Of Destiny
07. If Icarus Could Fly
08. Defender

Due to the resurgence that traditional metal seems to be having lately, along with how prolific Haunt have been in their short career, this won't be the last we're gonna see of them.

I don't really need to address the traditional metal resurgence, since there's a Traveler review right next to this one. And with how many bands in this genre are constantly putting out solid stuff, 2019 might be for heavy metal rehashes what 2018 was for doom-death ones. So how prolific are Haunt? Well, they've released two albums and two EPs since 2017, and if their Facebook posts are to be believed, they may have a 4th full-length out by the end of the year. Additionally, frontman Trevor William Church, who writes all the music and is the main producer, also fronts a doom metal band that released 10 EPs in 2018. Yeah... I guess it's a benefit of having a home studio.

Obviously, it's a bit off-putting to see such a prolific artist, because you'd be afraid that he sacrifices quality for quantity. So let's start an imagination exercise. Let's assume that this is Haunt's debut album and the first album Trevor William Church ever wrote and recorded and ignore the fact that it could grow into a discography of Senmuth-ian proportions. On its own, If Icarus Could Fly is definitely a solid and worthwhile album. Most of it sits in the classic Dokken-inspired mid-paced area, quite similar among the revivalists to Cauldron.

The album obviously keeps things quite short, barely crossing the 30-minute mark and with all songs in the 3-to-4-minute range. Thankfully, despite the fairly similar structures, I can't say I felt like I listened to the same songs twice. I did, however, feel like I've listened to them before on second listen, which actually attests to how easily they became recognizable, especially during the choruses. The vocals are somewhat monotonous, but it feels like they do manage to achieve their desired memorability. And outside the catchiness, the guitars and the drums are what carry this album all throughout, making the songs feel dynamic despite their short run time. It's great to finally listen to a traditional metal album where the solos don't feel like they are there just because a traditional metal song is supposed to have solos.

Due to it being so short, the nitpicks I may have had about it being monotonous kinda fall flat, since the songs are fairly dynamic and are not hard to tell apart from each other; there's some great songwriting and guitar performances at play, and if you feel like it's too short, just append this year's Mosaic Vision EP to the end, as if they were bonus tracks or something. Haunt may release so many albums in the future that we lose track of them, but for now, they can have their place in the spotlight.