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Credit: Alex

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Credit: Andreas Kohl

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In the spring of 2002, Scott "Wino" Weinrich contacted recordist Bruce Falkinburg to cancel the studio time Spirit Caravan booked at Phase Recording. Announcing the demise of the band, Wino asked Bruce if he was interested in doing a little jamming. Bruce was already playing in a DC band with drummer Dave Hennessy and thought he would be perfect for the project. (Dave is also the guitarist in heavy indie space-rock band Ostinato on Exile On Mainstream Records.) Dave was 100% unaware of Wino's history or style when he joined the jam, and this proved to be the key to the sound that developed into The Hidden Hand.

The band knew they were onto something fresh and dove into a batch of material that was forging a completely new direction for all the players. The sound was aggressive, fast, melodic, and a bit progressive, with an emphasis on tone and strong dual-lead vocals. The band made the conscious decision to concentrate lyrically on political themes, environmental issues, media influences, and spirituality. The band name itself refers to the unseen forces that influenced and continue to shape the history of mankind.

Bruce quickly engineered their first recording "Falconstone" for release on a High Times Magazine compilation. They released a 7" on McCarthyism Records that featured the seminal "Desensitized" - a song that clearly defined the band's sound and lyrical direction. In the winter of 2003, they began writing and recording the material for their critically acclaimed full-length debut Divine Propaganda , Soon they were playing around the US with Clutch, and headlining their own dates in the DC-Baltimore area at prime venues.

Around this same time Wino was also splitting his time to fulfill commitments with Place of Skulls. Sharing lead guitar and vocal duties with Victor Griffin (ex-Pentagram), Place of Skulls released With Vision on Southern Lord Records in November 2003. Shortly after, Wino left POS. Wino also was hand-selected by Dave Grohl to collaborate on the Probot album.. Wino lent his vocals and guitar work to the track: The Emerald Law. He was also prominently featured in the Probot video of "Shake Your Blood" alongside Lemmy and of course Dave Grohl.

Summer 2003 was very busy for Hidden Hand and they toured Europe for the first time. Then the band took a short break to concentrate on other efforts.

In November of 2003, The Hidden Hand went straight back to work and recorded "Five Points" and "Welcome To Sunshine" for a split 12" and CD-EP with Wooly Mammoth . The band also hired J Robbins to produce "Rebellion" for a compilation album on Crucial Blast. Early 2004 proved to be exceptionally busy for the band as they joined Clutch, Mastodon, and Nebula for a mini-tour of the Northeast US.

On March 1st The Hidden Hand entered the recording studio and spent the next two months literally jamming and refining new ideas. On May 1st, J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, ) joined the fray and took the helm of the studio recording. Three weeks later J and the band emerged with their finest work to date: MOTHER TEACHER DESTROYER , Without being conscious of it at the time, the band quickly realized that something special had happened in the studio.

The doom/stoner genre only hints at what lies in this record, and is the springboard for a slew of new sounds and fresh ideas that truly sets The Hidden Hand apart from their peers.

THE HIDDEN HAND DISCOGRAPHY

De-Sensitized 7" - McCarthyism Records 2002
Divine Propaganda - Meteorcity/Exile on Mainstream records 2003
Falcon Stone -(on the High Times Compilation) 2004
Rebellion - ( on the Crucial Blast Doom Compilation) 2004
split EP w/ Wooly Mammoth - Meteorcity/Exile on Mainstream/McCarthyism Records 2004

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