Hive Mind was born from the ashes of a band called Alien8. It’s been a slow process all round, as it took four years for that album to come out, and now almost as long for this self-titled outing.

The band is founding member Jared Wilkinson on guitars and keys; Arlo Baylis vox; Scott Walker on bass; Shane Swanerton on drums. They all add BVs as does guest Carrie Baylis. In short, this is melodic rock with an electronic edge.

Thoughtful lyrics, various expressions of discontent, but without any overdose of aggression. It’s slightly unfortunate that they’ve chosen a band name shared by an American RnB band, a 4-piece rock band from Sunderland and an Oz sludge-rock band (for starters), but we’ll put the NZers in front!

There’s so much included, but here is a list of subtle ingredients – The Darkness, Linkin Park, RATM, Placebo, Manic Street Preachers, Alice In Chains, Filter, a bit of Korn plus Iron Maiden… With only a handful of heavier numbers, there’s more focus on lyrics with meaning, melody with deft accents and all styles of expression within their instrument range.

There are great movie samples on South Of The Blade, which is one standout track of several. In short, lots of great influences and brilliant execution! A brave foray…