Durcel Haze: Down the Rabbit Hole

photo: Alex Gretter

Four musicians with a shared love for loud, fast-paced rock 'n' roll, teamed up to form Durcel Haze. With a resume that mentions stints in bands like Esperanto, Manspirit and Astral Dog, the two Austrians, a German and a Hungarian set up shop in Kufstein in Tirol and recorded the songs for Down the Rabbit Hole. Despite the band's spots for puns - the band name refers to the dreaded battery commercials featuring a rabbit that just keeps on going - and referring to Alice in Wonderland in the album's title, the actual songs are rather dark and pessimistic, basically the standard mood for music that rubs shoulders with heavy metal: love, darkness, rampant consumerism, being lost and finding solace in the company of their mates.

Down the Rabbit Hole sounds like a mainstream version of latter day NWOBHM. The needles come close to being in the red, but the overall tone of the music is quite clean. It's up to the vocals to make a difference and, with all band members weighing in to support Jรกnos Suba energetic lead, the songs get an edge that they should explore more on the next album. Drummer Klaus Langer is tight but loose, no matter how fast the rest of the band is playing. A feat that will haunt Lars Ulrich in his dreams.

Durcel Haze:
Jรกnos Suba: bass, vocals
Mario Edinger: guitar, vocals
Wolf Vogler: guitar, vocals
Klaus Langer: drums, vocals