Hawk

Best-known for his "Metal Method" guitar instructional videos in the 80's onward, Doug Marks has actually had a stint with a band simply known as Hawk. This glam-looking band had also featured Scott Travis of Racer X/Judas Priest fame as well as Matt Sorum, who is known for drum work for Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver and even Marq Torien of (eeewww....) Bulletboys. But none of the musicians mentioned above were involved in recording Hawk's only studio album in the 80's, its self-titled debut. While there are some influence of glam in it, there are also places in which we hear Doug Marks use his talent to his full potential in both soloing and riff making.

The band members kind of have a glam-like appearance, but some aspects of the music doesn't really suggest glam metal, even with the presence of synthesizers. In fact, the synthesizers actually help punctuate the music rather than create a glossy sound. That's cos the riffs aren't peppy or happy-sounding like a glam band. The synthesizers in the beginning of "Fades so Fast", for example, create a mystifying, fantasy-like sound, not unlike the music of Dio's solo band, even when the lyrics suggest a love song. What makes the song even better is the vocal performance of Dave Fefolt, who would eventually join Fifth Angel. After a minute and a half of the intro, the song then kicks into gear with a driving tempo and a chugging, rocking hook. My favorite song on here, though is "Witches Burning", which contains a sinister, evil-sounding hook most likely created using harmonic minor arpeggios. Because of this, we get a song that really puts you in the setting of the woods as a terrifying ritual is taking place.

Other songs on this album are a bit more obvious. "Tell the Truth" and "Can't Fall in Love" are perfect examples of the band's glam-like sound. They're your basic, generic, radio-friendly hard rock song that you might have heard before. Well, there are no synthesizers in either of those two songs, so I guess that's a plus. "The Dream", on the other hand, is a much better song, even if it's meant for the radio. The key in which the song is in creates a mystifying feel to it, suggesting a sort of dream-like setting. Again, it lacks the presence of a synthesizer, but if it were in there, it would have ruined the song, making it more of a predictable pop single of the 80's. I guess the more obvious songs don't come as a surprise judging by the band's appearance, all decked out in atrocious amounts of make up and one member even putting feathers in his ridiculously humongous hair. That said, those songs can be ignored in favor of the good stuff, like "Witches Burning".

The real focus in Hawk, however, is the fancy fretwork of none other than Doug Marks himself. You can hear him shredding away in parts of the song where you'd don't expect someone to shred, like at the very beginning of the song before the first verse. Sometimes he plays a little solo during the actual verse of the song, when Dave Fefolt takes a bit of a break. Before the first verse in "The Dream", the solo has a bit of a classical influence, as many solos from professional guitarists do. With that in mind, he isn't unique like Marty Friedman, who mixes Asian influences with classical music in his solos, thus giving them a distinct sound. Still, it's pretty cool to hear someone hit those notes with incredibly fast fingers. Not a whole lot of people could do that, especially among those who had favored looking popular in the hopes of selling records.

It's kind of a sad thing to know that Hawk had only one (two if you count "Let the Metal Live", released long after the band had split) album to its name. Sure, it's got its drawbacks, like the more predictable, radio-friendly tracks, but I personally feel that we could have had more come from Doug Marks other than his instructional videos. Are there or were there any ideas that he would want to show the world through an honest to goodness album? I'm sure he would have started an excellent solo career, like Joe Satriani, and showed off some of his riffing stuff. I would love to hear more songs like "Witches Burning".