Henki, however, is Dawson’s first actual heavy metal album.
Their influence has always been present in his music, from his bellows and screeches, and Peasant’s dissection of medieval matters, to the chugging gallop of 2020’s “Jogging”.
They then defend and subsequently assert excellent musicianship may be evident, but the collaboration’s sharpest weapon is Richard Dawson’s voice a classic baritone that can contort into an extreme countertenor at the click of a finger, more castrato than falsetto, like Mickey Mouse’s melodist progeniture. Knowing that their songs will soon bear multiple fire-breathing heads, Dawson and Circle begin their collective journey huddled together in a challenged calm, like a musical bomb shelter. Many of the compositions of ‘Henki’ emerge from a clear headspace a state of congenial truce that patiently awaits a disruptive turmoil to ruin any quietude.