Release Date: May 03rd 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
Ingress - Tracklisting
1.Stygian Nectar 08:10
2.Summoner 04:19
3.Projection 07:13
4.Sloe 07:56
5.Lantern Eyed 08:48
6.Nor'easter 07:51
7.Magog 04:50
8.Kaleidoscope 07:11
9.Mines 08:00
10.Aeons Entombed 05:16
11.Spherical 04:41
Members
Josh Dupree - Bass
Dave Jones - Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
Zach Hatsis - Drums
Joey Toscano - Guitars
Review
Ingress is the debut album from Psych Stoner Metallers Hibernaut who bring a high amount of amplifier distorted Doom/Sludge Metal along the way. Taking cues from High On Fire and Mastodon with their own blend of gloomy Psychedelics. The album lasts for over seventy minutes with the band playing progressive strands of Stoner Metal. There’s a fine amount of FUZZY grooves with a dirty and seedy atmosphere.
The vocals are a mixture of Matt Pike and Troy Sanders with a slightly more gruff based attitude. The opening two songs of Stygian Nectar and Summoner both have a fine mix of fast-paced grooves and a slower style of music where Hibernaut brings in trippier Psychedelic elements that could be considered Space Rock in places. The music has a “LOW & SLOW” appeal which shows up predominantly on the later stages of Stygian Nectar.
There is a lot to take in with this album with the album running for such a long time. However, Hibernaut seem to immerse themselves and the listener only further into the vast reaches of Psych Stoner Metal. There’s also a slight twinge of Groove Metal which allows the music to be more appealing even when the harsher and thrasher based grooves appear.
HIbernaut channels the Mid 2000’s spirit of Relapse Records with the fast-paced metallic energy that sees the band zip along with highly confident energy on tracks such as: Projection, Sloe, Lantern Eyed and Nor’easter. The majority of these tracks run between seven to eight minutes each. The instrumental sounds are always impressive with Hibernaut playing to their creative strengths especially Dave Jones on vocals who sounds like he’s been religiously listening to classic Mastodon (Leviathan) and High On Fire (Blessed Black Wings) albums most of his adult life but still performing his own fantastic vocal styles.
The second half of the album is perhaps more wilder than the first half with Hibernaut becoming more of a Sludge Metal band but still with a killer WEEDIAN mentality. The grooves are heavier and thicker with a lot more SONIC experimentation as well.
Standout tracks on this part of the album include: Magog, Kaleidoscope, Mines and Aeons Entombed.
Hibernaut are wonderfully expressive with their creative thoughts and musings for the lyrics they write for the whole album. This is great to see a band such as HIbernaut playing a neverending style of aggressive and catchy extended guitar solos with a thunderous rhythm section laying down the groundwork for Dave and Joey to fully explore. So high marks to bassist Josh Dupree and drummer Zach Hatsis on that score as well.
Ingress is a violent and unexpected delight that offers first rate entertainment for the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal underground scene to claim as their own and promote their music to the high heavens.
Words by Steve Howe
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