Hubardo

Hubardo
Studio album by Kayo Dot
Released	August 31, 2013
Recorded	April 2013 at Avast Studios in Seattle, Washington
Genre	Avant-garde metal, experimental music, black metal, post-metal, jazz fusion, chamber music
Length	98:50
Label	Ice Level Records
Producer	Toby Driver, Randall Dunn
Kayo Dot chronology
Gamma Knife (2012)Gamma Knife2012 Hubardo (2013) Coffins on Io (2014)Coffins on Io2014

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Bearded Gentlemen
ContactMusic
Sputnikmusic

Hubardo is the sixth album, a concept double album, by Kayo Dot, self-released and funded through pre-orders on frontman Toby Driver's Ice Level Records in 2013. It is the follow up to Gamma Knife, which was released in 2012. It is Kayo Dot's first double album, its longest album and one of its heaviest albums to date, containing aspects of avant-garde metal, black metal, post-metal, post-rock, jazz fusion as well as chamber music. It is considered a throwback to maudlin of the Well and early Kayo Dot recordings, as it contains much more metal screaming vocals by collaborator Jason Byron and Driver than any Kayo Dot album. It also contains much more repetition, metal riffs, overdubs, polyrhythms and double bass than past albums despite leaning heavily on typical wide-ranging jazz and chamber music influenced orchestration. It was picked as the 4th best album of 2013 on indie music website SputnikMusic.

Hubardo was co-produced by longtime producer Randall Dunn and Toby Driver. Occasional collaborator and former maudlin of the Well vocalist Jason Byron recorded his first vocal performance since 2002's maudlin of the Well album Leaving Your Body Map on the song "The Black Stone." He also wrote the lyrics for the album and a 40-page book, entitled "The Sword of Satan" packed with the vinyl copy of the album detailing the story behind Hubardo.

After leaving Hydra Head Records and releasing Gamma Knife independently, Driver crowdfunded the album entirely through pre-orders on independent music website Bandcamp. Shortly after the release of the album, Driver announced that he was in the process of producing a triple LP "super limited black vinyl" that was limited to 200 pressings which contained a 40-page book detailing the concept behind the album entitled "The Sword of Satan" written by Jason Byron.

Writing and recording

After leaving Hydra Head, Driver felt that "labels were not interested in what I was doing" and that the return to the traditional metal sound of early Kayo Dot albums was sparked prior to Gamma Knife because he felt frustrated with "bland, unthoughtful, weak metal coming out and receiving acclaim." The budgets for Stained Glass and Gamma Knife were minuscule and thus affected the scope of the albums, however with Hubardo, the group had a set budget that was considerably larger, thus the wider scope of the album. The album also contains more repetition than past Kayo Dot albums, thus the more metal inclined sound, and reportedly, Driver did not have day jobs tying him down so he could dedicate his entire time to writing the album. Due to repetition and an aspect of catchiness, guitarist Ron Varod characterized the album as "pop."

The album was recorded at Randall Dunn's (Sunn O))) producer) studio in Seattle, Washington after receiving a sizeable amount of funding from their crowdfunding attempt via the group's Bandcamp page. This reportedly allowed the group much more flexibility to undertake such a large project.

Unlike past albums, the entire live band performed on the record, including guitarist Ron Varod played lead guitar on the album. Driver plays the bass guitar on the album as well as synthesizers, piano and organ. Shortly after the release of the album, longtime collaborator Mia Matsumiya and Terran Olson moved and are no longer a part of the band's live incarnation. No word has been given if they will return to future Kayo Dot releases.

Music and lyrics

Driver continued to collaborate on the lyrics with Jason Byron on the album, the lyrics and concept a collaboration between the two. The lyrics reportedly came first; and that the composition of the album was much more in line with how maudlin of the Well songs were composed. He decided to make the album without worrying about the music being perceived as "avant-garde" to make it more accessible. The album was meant to have shades of all of Kayo Dot's various sounds over the past decade, and even sounds that harken back to maudlin of the Well. The album title, "Hubardo" means "lantern" or "lamp" in the mystical language of Enochian, representing the anniversary of the group's founding.

The album, much more metal in scope while still maintaining the wide orchestration Kayo Dot is known for, grew out of dislike of critically respected metal, according to Toby Driver in an interview. The album features a very wide list of collaborators, unlike recent albums which were mostly written and performed by Driver and a few people; thus the music is varied.

Release and reception

Release

Despite attempting to use Kickstarter, the group was left with low finances after leaving Hydra Head, and Driver considered ending the project. In early 2013, however, Kayo Dot offered preorders on a new album to finance recording and publishing of a new album which was widely successful; giving the band the ability to go into the studio with a set budget. Thus people who pre-ordered received the album on its release on August 31, 2013. Shortly after, the group announced that they would be releasing a limited 3-LP set with artwork by Rachel Wolf and the book "The Sword of Satan" by Jason Byron. The 200 vinyls sold out immediately.

Reception

Hubardo was released to extremely positive reception, receiving a 4.7 out of 5 on SputnikMusic and being called "their finest work since Choirs of the Eye." They later called it the 4th best album of 2013, saying it recalled the "black metal chamber music of Choirs of the Eye" and that it is "simultaneously focused and sprawling. ContactMusic gave it a 9/10, calling it the most "enjoyable metal album of the year." Bearded Gentlemen gave the album a perfect 5/5, saying that "[t]he addition of actual memorable musical segments makes the band finally feel complete." By-Volume gave it a 9.5/10, calling it a "rare and engrossing experience."

Track listing

All songs written by Toby Driver. All lyrics written by Jason Byron.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Black Stone"	10:38
2.	"Crown-In-The-Muck"	8:54
3.	"Thief"	6:51
4.	"Vision Adjustment to Another Wavelength"	4:53
5.	"Zlida Caosgi (To Water the Earth)"	5:25
6.	"The First Matter (Saturn in the Guise of Sadness)"	9:28
7.	"The Second Operation (Lunar Water)"	13:18
8.	"Floodgate"	7:22
9.	"And He Built Him a Boat"	7:27
10.	"Passing the River"	10:12
11.	"The Wait of the World"	14:22

Credits

• Toby Driver - vocals, bass, synthesizer, piano, organ, percussion
• Daniel Means - alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet
• Ron Varod - guitar
• Keith Abrams - drums
• Terran Olson - flute, alto sax, clarinet, piano, organ, synthesizer
• Tim Byrnes - trumpet, horn in f
• Mia Matsumiya - violin
• Jason Byron - vocals
• Jessika Kenney & BC Campbell - guest backing vocals
• Randall Dunn - synth design