Hanx review

"This guy is a good writer! A sentence like this one proves this:
Her eyes were like the ocean - deep, restless and at his door.
It's all about the 'door' in this sentence. In one sentence a disaster is announced ...this woman will die by an ax. You can actually hear the darkness of the lyrics through Christian William's lonesome baritone voice.
And Henry May gets shot by his wife:
Oh, Henry May - used his head to paint the kitchen red that summer day.
This guy, Henry, is an annoying guy actually; he's not welcome in heaven and not even in hell as the devil sends him back in the shape of a cockroach.
In our review of Williams' previous album Built With Bones, we already talked about his so-called JCS (Johnny Cash Syndrome). The same thing comes to mind with this album. Also, Nick Cave is a name that comes to mind every now and then. Nathan Wade and William Elliot Whitmore are also people he seems to have listened to a lot, as well as blues and mountain music like Dock Boggs and Mike Seeger. On the previous record, Boggs didn't really come to mind but on this one he really does, especially in 'An Honest Man.'
Williams definitely has improved! On this record, he delivers some fine pieces of songwriting. In 'A Winter Away,' a bit of Neil Diamond comes to the surface. Also 'Barn By The Creek' and 'Upstairs' are songs that are solid as a rock.
Williams doesn't copy sixties and seventies country - he drinks from the source of folk music, which has its roots in the nineteenth century. Defiant is a very decent, solid record which lifts Williams to a higher level again. If he continues like this, greater things await Christian Williams and us here at Hanx as listeners!"
3 out of 5
-Wim Boluijt
Hanx (Belgium)