Track By Tracks: HAXOTZ - LETAGINAK (2016)

‘Letaginak’ (‘Fangs’) is not a concept album stricto sensu, but all lyrics revolve around the idea of holding desperately to things that may not necessarily be the best for us, and literally fighting for each breath.  

1. Pantailak:  

This is a song about isolation. ‘Pantailak’ (‘Screens’) talks about the rather dark side of being constantly connected - not the cyberbullying and the constant trolling, but the increasing impossibility for people to socialise. We rely so ridiculously much on hiding behind the screen that, at some point, we can’t even tell a friend to take us to the street and away from it.  Musicwise, it has that modern hardcore feeling with the chorus giving it a bit of that epic feeling. The sludge beginning gives it that extra boost - we really love hardcore bands that are groovy too, such as Cancer Bats.  

2. #:  

It stands out among the rest of the songs. It has that stoner rock feeling of bands such as Kuraia. The lyrics are more ironic than absolutely straightforward, and speak about the horrible voyeurism and constant need of attention and entitlement we have fallen into through the abusive use of social networks.  We loved writing this song together, it is really fun to play live because it has parts that allow interaction from all of the band members. We love the breakdown too. Currently, we’re snippeting ‘Bulls on parade’ midsong, it gives it an incredible boost.  

3. Hasperena: 

‘Hasperena’ (‘Sigh’) and ‘Arnasa’ (‘Breath’) are to halves of basically the same song. They’re split because they were composed at separate times but come from the same root chords. They’re about realising that we are alive, although through different processes - ‘Hasperena’, specifically, speaks about learning to see through other eyes, about sympathising with other people and listening to the older and wiser.  It has that post-hc intro feeling, with the clean guitars and the screaming at the back of the track. It isn’t groundbreaking stylewise, but for us it is a big step forward in composing.  

4. Arnasa:  

This is us spitting to your eye. ‘Arnasa’ is about self-realisation and the process of learning through one’s own mistakes, and coming out alive and stronger and a better person in the end.  This is the first all-screaming song that we ever wrote and recorded. It was a bit of a shock at the beginning for the band, but we’ve grown used to it. I recorded the vocals in just one take and Urtzi -our producer- wouldn’t let me repeat it. It really captured the spirit of the song.  According to the spirit of the song, the lyric video was recorded in a couple of hours in a dark backroom in Mondragon and edited in about a week by our talented AV friends Alex and Garazi - we owe them so, so much.  

5. Letaginak:  

‘Letaginak’ (‘Fangs’) is a drummer song - it was planned and partly written by our drummer Unai, and you can feel it throughout, it’s quite rhythmic. This one is about us, a self-homage so to speak, about how unlikely it was to think eight years ago, when we were just teenagers, that we would still be here, fangs unsheathed, ready to bite.  It has much more of a metal feel than the rest of the songs, with the hellish riff at the beginning, the faint keyboard arrangements -our first ever too-, the epicness of the chorus. BMTH-y.  

6. Sugegorria:  

This started as an experiment and went further to become a song. We all love SOAD and this is that spirit gone through our filter. ‘Sugegorria’ (‘Viper’) represents the poison of the mass media and the power of social networks in neutralising people’s critical opinions. We are unable to see reality and instead, we are so conditioned that we only see whatever others want us to see.  Much more slow-paced than the rest of the tracks. Headbanging ensured, even if you’re home alone. And a perfect melodic ending to finish our EP.