Hundred Eyes Premiere Debut Single “Vulture in a Suit”
A debut single five years in the making says perhaps not the most for productivity when it comes to Portland smashers Hundred Eyes, but when you take the seven and a half minutes to actually get introduced to “Vulture in a Suit,” you’re likely to be glad it showed up later rather than never. And it might indeed have been never were it not for the idle hands of quarantine on the part of vocalist/pianist Ben Jackson (Hippie Death Cult, ex-Sioux, etc.) and guitarist/synthesist Juan Carlos Caceres (Alltar, Hound the Wolves, Tigers on Opium). The beginnings of Hundred Eyes date back to 2015, when the project came together around Caceres, Jackson bassist Ian Engblom and drummer Ryan Stabach. Everyone in different bands, didn’t click, didn’t go anywhere. It happens.
They apparently played live at least enough for the above photo to have been captured by the esteemed Alyssa Herman, but the songs sat on a hard drive. Again, it happens. Five years later, here comes the apocalypse and all of a sudden there’s time to finish up what was laid down, and at least the initial results of that are evident in the track premiere below. Combining post-Converge angularity with sludged tones and a spacious atmosphere that is crushing in purpose and execution, “Vulture in a Suit” is a pummeler-plus, offering flashes of technicality in the lead guitar work later that stand against the rawness of the earlier shouted vocals. On a sheer aesthetic level, there’s probably an EP’s worth of ground covered in this one track, so if you find yourself thinking of going back when it’s over and giving it another run, you’re not in the wrong to do so.
The revived Hundred Eyes is just Jackson and Caceres at least for the time being, and according to the info below they’ll follow “Vulture in a Suit” with a Nine Inch Nails cover — I wonder what song they did; maybe a super-heavy “Reptile?” — sometime in the near future, then continue to work on new material. Both involved parties still have other bands going — Tigers on Opium will have a track premiere here next week, Alltar have a new live album, and Hippie Death Cult are in the studio — so who the hell knows what the timing will be, but who the hell knows anything, ever, anymore? Just hit play and be happy music is fucking happening at all before it’s outlawed on some weird Handmaid’s Tale fundamentalist shit.
Life is hopeless. Music is good. Enjoy:
Hundred Eyes, “Vulture in a Suit” official track premiere
“Vulture in a Suit” is the debut single from Hundred Eyes. A dark, atonally jarring cog in the wheel of capitalism, rolling toward the gaping chasm of inequality.
Hundred Eyes is a collaborative music and art project between Ben Jackson and Juan Carlos Caceres based in Portland, Oregon. The initial roots of the project go back to 2014 when the duo entered Toadhouse Recording studio with producer/engineer Adam Bradley Pike, and a powerhouse rhythm section made up of Ian Engblom and Ryan Stabach.
Despite the sessions yielding an abundant amount of material, the musicians’ relationships were strained and everyone had other projects going. The band was put on hold in 2015 and during that time, the Pro Tools session files were lost on a failed hard drive after only the first mixing session had been completed.
Fast forward to 2020… The pandemic and subsequent lockdown gave Juan and Ben some time to revisit the idea of finally releasing the songs and continuing the project with a new line up. They enlisted Eddie Brnabic to do the mastering and put the final touches on the material from the Toadhouse sessions.
Their first single “Vulture in a Suit” will be followed by the release of a NIN cover song. In 2021 they will officially release two EPs and begin crafting their full length debut!
“Vulture in a Suit” lineup:
Juan Carlos Caceres – Guitar, Synth
Ian Engblom – Bass
Ben Jackson – Vocals, Piano
Ryan Stabach – Drums
Recorded at Toadhouse Recording by Adam Bradley Pike and Michael Moore
Mixed by Adam Bradley Pike
Mastered by Eddie Brnabic
Art by Brian Kim
ASSOCIATED BANDS: Beringia, Sioux, A((WAKE)), Temple Hotel, Tigers on Opium, Hound the Wolves, Hippie Death Cult, Alltar, Only Zuul, Edword
HUNDRED EYES is Juan Carlos Caceres and Ben Jackson
Hundred Eyes on Thee Facebooks
Tags: Hundred Eyes, Hundred Eyes Vulture in a Suit, Oregon, Portland, Unsigned bands, Vulture in a Suit
