French outfit Hypno5e do a great job of impressing on many levels with their debut full length Des Deux L'une Est L'autre, a heavy & complex collection of musical styles that touches on death metal, hardcore, prog rock, ambient, and electronica.
From the two part suite "Maintained Relevance of Destruction Pt I & 2" that opens up the CD, it's obvious that these guys are onto something, and delivering your normal deathcore/metalcore certainly ain't it. Jarring guitar riffs, intricate rhythms, and back & forth bursts of aggression and tranquil beauty paint the musical landscape here, the highlight being a few moments with some lovely male & female vocals supported by lilting guitar and keyboard accompaniment before the raging screams and pummeling riffs come back into play. The stop/start math metal of "Daybreak at Slaughterhouse" is interspersed with bits of quiet electronica, certainly proving that Hypno5e carefully listened to their Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, and Brian Eno albums while honing their craft. Prog rockers will probably dig the instrumental "H492053", complete with bubbling electronics, tranquil atmosphere, and crushing guitar mayhem, and those into avant-garde metal will gravitate towards the off-beat and epic "The Hole".
Speaking of epic, there's three 10+ minute tracks here, and another one is the blistering technical metal piece "Scarlet Fever", filled with more complex riff-o-rama & acrobatic drum work that you can possibly keep track of, offset in parts by some gentle keyboard passages and spoken word narration. The other lengthy piece is actually another two part epic, "Naked Lunch", a creepy, almost film-score type excursion filled with programmed effects, keyboards, bone crunching riffs, and drum blasts.
Des Deux L'une Est L'autre is one of those CDs that's going to take a few listens for all to sink in. There's a LOT going on here, and the band keeps you on your toes throughout the entire time with the constant shifting from crushing metal, to chilling ambient/electronica, to technical progressive metal. I almost hate to use an Opeth comparison here, and Hypno5e certainly don't sound like the Swedish legends, but they have a knack for shifting and mingling styles that is quite similar at times. Certainly progressive and adventurous music for anyone who wants to be challenged, and for that this one is very recommended.
Track Listing
01. Maintained Relevance of Destruction Pt I
02. Maintained Relevance of Destruction Pt II
03. Daybreak At Slaughter-House
04. H492053
05. The Hole
06. Scarlet Fever
07. Tutuguri
08. Naked Lunch 1
09. Naked Lunch 2
10. Remords Posthumes
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