HAWKWIND LIGHT ORCHESTRA: CARNIVOROUS

"Hawkind Light Orchestra" was used as a band name first time in "Stellar Variations"-album, when there were only Dave Brock, Richard Chadwick & Niall Hone involving of making it. This time Hone was replaced by Magnus Martin. Originally Brock was planning to make an solo album, but soon those two Hawkwind members joined in. Then came Covid-19 lockdown, so the band couldn´t be in the same studio anymore. Album name is an anagram from Coronavirus, also in album front sleeve has stylized picture of that virus. Although name and album sleeve, this isn ´t concept album, only two pieces lyrics handle Covid.

"Expedition to Planet X" is short, synthsounding overture to the album. "Dyna-mite" is good, straighforward Hawkwind piece, that uses same chords as there is in Beatles "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Next "Void Of Wasteland" is quite typical, very spacey sounding Hawkwind-instrumental. Awesome atmosphere all the way! "Repel Attract" continues in a same good, straighforward way. Very great synths in it and hardrock guitar, also typical melodic vocals! "Attraction" is very beautiful and calm instrumental. "Human Behavior (No Sex Allowed)" is another straighforward, but little bit slower, melodic piece. "Temple Of Love" is short instrumental with pulsating synths, some bongos and bellsounding synths. In "Square Peg In a Round Hole" atmosphere changes quite scary, but guitar brings light into it. But in "Windy Day" we go back to the positive feeling of the album. Great guitar playing in it!

"Model Farm Blues" starts the second album of the vinyl version. It really is 12-bar blues with psychedelic flavors. "Whose Call Is It Anyway" is again really great, little bit sad instrumental with really beautiful acoustic guitar playing. Naturally "Lockdown (Keep Calm)" is very dark, kind of modern "Sonic Attack" with intructions of that world´s situation. It sounds like authoritatives couldn´t stay calm. "The Virus" continues in a same direction, when this time Brock sounds to be some kind of preast preaching how the virus changed our life. Although piece is quite straighforward, there are musical changes that makes this piece carry on it´s over 10 minutes lenght. After very acoustic and bright ending of the "The Virus" we go back to the common style of this album in "Forgotten Memories" in it´s melodic downrightness. "Higher Ground" ends album in the very positive way.

Despite the band name, both "Stellar Variations" and "Carnivorous" are full-blooded Hawkwind albums. As a matter of fact this album is a big improvement to the previous "All Aboard the Skylark". So it seemed lockdown made good to Brock, at least he seemed to have much more time to concentrate make good songs. Nothing new into this, but as a big fan I expect them typical Hawkwind album with good songs. This album may not be essential to any proglistener, but really it is essential to every Hawkwind-fan.

As with the previous "Hawkwind Light Orchestra" album, this is Dave Brock working with a smaller subset of the then-current Hawkwind lineup for a studio album. In this case, it's a project prompted by the COVID pandemic and lockdown, with the participants exchanging parts they'd recorded at home for later mixing; the title's an anagram of "Coronavirus" as a nod to this.

As such, whilst the earlier Hawkwind Light Orchestra album (Stellar Variations) was born of a creative decision to do that particular experiment, this was born out of necessity. It feels a little less compelling - valuable at the time as an exercise in making Hawkwind-esque music for the sake of keeping the lights on during a dark time, but somewhat more forgettable after the fact. Call it a low three and a half stars.