Review: Habak ‘Insania’ [Reissue]

When the Shaman-In-Chief tasked me to review the re-edition of Habak’s debut effort Insania, I thought it would be an easy task to do while in ArcTanGent, and it was… until I repeatedly forgot to send it to him because I have a reward card to the neurospicy struggle bus company. So, my original unfiltered thoughts had to be repolished for cohesion.

But before that, a spoiler alert: as grateful as I am for discovering Habak, I am genuinely confused about why they chose to reissue this album instead of their sophomore record from 2020, Ningún Muro Consiguió Jamás Contener La Primavera (No Wall Ever Contained The Spring), which is, in my opinion, a better introduction to this band that Insania is. But does it mean that this album sucks? No, not at all, but it is a d-beat hardcore punk album from 2015, and it sounds so much like it when I was not into this kind of music just yet, except for Botch.

For those who have little to no knowledge of Habak, they are an obscure but fascinating hardcore band hailing from Tijuana (pronounced tee-hwah-nuh), Mexico, who gained some kind of underground popularity after their EP with Fractal in 2022 and another with L​á​grimas the year after. Some might even give them the dreaded appellation ‘female-fronted band’ because Alejandra Valdez happens to be a woman but don’t be fooled by the rocks that she got, she is a force to be reckoned with and anyone who is subscribed to the hate5six’s channel will agree with me.

What about Insania, though? Well, there are two ways of seeing it; either it as a somewhat dated album from a genre that seems to fail to renew itself, or you can see it as a hidden gem of a misunderstood musical genre. I went into this thinking like the former, but this album quickly grew on me, so I can explain why it is unequivocally the latter.

From the opening title Immune Al Dolor (Immune To Pain), you have this sense of urgency, it’s fast-paced, it’s frantic but somehow, it kind of speaks to you…

Even if you did not study Spanish in school, you can easily relate to the themes explored on this album such as hopelessness, mental health struggles, and all the anger towards a deeply flawed society that wants you no good. From the opening title Immune Al Dolor (Immune To Pain), you have this sense of urgency, it’s fast-paced, it’s frantic but somehow, it kind of speaks to you, which is something that seems to only happen to me when it’s not sung entirely in English.

You’d think that the rest of the album would give you a little bit of a rest because it only contains six songs and a live version of their second-best track, but no. It stays right up there in terms of anger and catchy melodies. And by second-best track of the album, I absolutely mean Orbe De Almas (Orb Of Souls) which has an energy that can only be matched by For You Who Died by envy, or dare I say Concubine by Converge, mainly because the eerie intro leading to the big breakdown in Condenado Al Olvido (Condemned To Oblivion) is way too good not to be mentioned.

I thought that the whole silent moment bit in between two blast beats was a bit too naff for my sludge queen heart but, if you can do it, do it well and that’s exactly what we have here. They did fall into the stereotypical tropes of the genre that make me wince a little with the title track, which got me less inspired, but it’s still a very enjoyable record nonetheless, and they make it up with the ending of El Deceso (The Death).

Overall, it’s great that Habak decided to reissue their debut album, so more people can get to know them and what they stand for as in staunch antifascists who are speaking about things everybody can relate to without sounding wishy-washy or fake. The authenticity is there, the grit is there too, and even if Insania might not have been the go-to album for Habak, it is definitely worth giving a shot, then you can go to Ningún Muro Consiguió Jamás Contener La Primavera and fully enjoy Habak at their finest.

Label: Persistent Vision Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Nessie Spencer