Release
date: March 17th 2017. Label: The Company. Format: Cassette/DD/Vinyl
Hyborian:
Vol 1 – Tracklisting
As Above, So Below
Maelstrom
Blood for Blood
Dead Lies Dreaming
Ajna
Dross
Band
Members
Martin Bush
Justin Rippeto
Ryan Bates
Anthony Diale
Review
Hyborian:
Vol I is the debut album from Progressive Sludge/Stoner Rockers -
Hyborian. If you're a fan of Mastodon, Baroness and Crowbar then
you'll be mightily impressed by this album. As Hyborian play a fast
and furious blend of Sludge/Stoner Metal that leans towards the more
progressive side of things. With a touch of psychedelic spaced out
sounds spliced into the action. The vocals are more clean based that
means you can concentrate on the groovy riffs at the same time.
Opening
track - As Above So Below - opens with a mighty flourish. With heavy Sludge/Stoner grooves taking you back to Mastodon's Blood
Mountain era with the progressive rhythms. Though with a more spaced
out sound. The atmosphere and volume of the whole album is loud from
the start as Hyborian play at such a fast pace. Second song -
Maelstrom - is one of the albums standout tracks with superb dual
vocals and heavy psychedelic guitars creating a loud wall of noise.
People
may complain - "Not Another Mastodon/Baroness Clone" and I
can see why they may think that of Hyborian. Though appearances can
be deceiving as Hyborian inject a more direct psych/spaced out sound
with cool ideas of their own. The album only runs for thirty mins and
Hyborian don't waste a single second or riff. Every song has been
written and played to a tight timescale and the album becomes more
exciting as a result.
The
Progressive grooves blast straight through to the third track - Blood
For Blood. This is perhaps the heaviest the song on the album as
Hyborian opts for a gloomier style of Sludge/Stoner Metal. The
instrumental work is one of precision matched against bleak lyrical
content.
The
final three songs on the album - Dead Lies Dreaming, Ajna and Dross -
continue with the fast-paced and sometimes manic riffs with Hyborian
creating an exciting style of sound. It maybe familiar to some though
you can't deny how addictive the whole album sounds and feels. Ajna
is perhaps the strongest offering from the final three tracks but as
a whole Hyborian impress on all of tracks.
The
lyrics are another highlight as Hyborian have written intriguing
ideas for the individual songs that allows the album to have a rich
creative side. The production is excellent as Hyborian have delivered
a fresh, loud and crisp audio experience. Hyborian: Vol I is a superb
debut album and hopefully we will see more from Hyborian in the
future. An impressive debut album indeed.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks to Joshua from
The Company for the promo. Hyborian: Vol 1 will be available to buy
on Cassette/DD/Vinyl via The Company from 17th March
2017.
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