Slowly and surely, I am beginning to tell when a death metal band sucks and when they have their collective musical vision "together" enough that I ignore the vocals.
Hypnos is a trio from the Czech Republic. I have two earlier CDs from this band so I'm familiar with their style. I have to say that The Revenge Ride is the CD upon which their musicianship must be judged to be judged fairly. The trio of Bruno (bass/vocals), Pegas (drums) and David M. (guitar) have put their heads together for an outstanding CD that concentrates on writing songs.
"Raven's Operal D'Moll," "Crystal Purity Of Treachery," and
"Evil Awaken" are the powerful trio of songs that open the CD.
"Raven" is a 40 second intro to "Crystal." I'm really getting tired
of criticizing death bands because of their vocals. I'm beginning
to think that's like criticizing country bands because violins
often are playing harmony parts in the background. I now think that
the death metal vocal style is just another instrument in the band
and that criticizing it is like criticizing Eddie Van Halen for
playing guitar solos.
Bruno growls through his vocals, leading the band through some amazing thrash-like riffs. I think what appeals to me the most about this band is that there are tempo changes and different musical themes being introduced in the same song. It makes it a compelling listen. In "Crystal" this comes at the 2:37 mark in the song when the band launches into a different riff. David M. spins an excellent (but short) guitar solo before the band returns to the faster tempo and riff that began the song.
"Regicide" is one of my favorite tracks on the CD, mainly because of the drumming of Pegas who weaves his drums into the melody and accents his cymbals at the right time before launching into a fast blast beat pattern that is broken up by more accents and tom fills that mesh into the overall sound. I like it.
Skipping ahead through tracks 5-7, we arrive at another of my favorite tracks "I Am The Wind." This song is a slow tempo for a death band and the band actually grooves in synch with David M's guitar part. I wouldn't hesitate to call this song a thrash song. Bruno's vocals are exceptional to the point that you can actually decipher what he is singing in a creepy whispering vocal style in the first part of the song. The second half returns him to his trademark growl-ish vocals. Pegas locks into a groove with his double-bass drums that changes patterns several times in the course of the 5:07 long track.
The CD closes with "Lost" an acoustic guitar solo, and the all-out assault called "Heroism Of New Era." "Heroism" captures the best traits of Hypnos. Once again, Bruno's vocals can be deciphered, Pegas locks into the groove established by David M's riffing, alternating between a blast beat pattern and syncopated parts. David M's riff is, once again, interesting.
I have listened to this band get better and better with each release. While I found their first four song EP not all that special, I found In Blood We Trust better, and this CD a step above. I would find it safe to say that Hypnos has made it into the elite circle of non-major label bands (Nadir from New Zealand, Disarray from Tennessee, Monument from Oklahoma, Cousin Oliver from California, Bigwig from New Jersey, Detachment from Cedar Rapids (who I recently reviewed on this site) that I like as a music fan as well as a reviewer.