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Review:
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During the second edition of the Dutch Symforce Festival
this weekend I enjoyed the gigs by Magic Pie, The Watch
and Alquin but only one band really blew me away, the Belgian
formation Hypnos 69, what a dynamics and enthousiasm. Soon
after the concert I rushed towards the Hypnos 69 ‘stand’
and bought their latest effort entitled The Eclectic Measure.
Initially Hypnos 69 has disbanded but due to the many positive
reactions on their latest album the band decided to re-unite,
we should be glad about that and I am gonna tell you why.
Listening to The Eclectic Measure I notice obvious hints
of the pivotal first King Crimson album (from dreamy with
Mellotron to violent with propulsive interplay, fiery guitar
and powerful saxophone), the track Ominous (But Fooled Before)
even sounds like a variation on 21st Century Schizoid Man
but the blend of Hammond organ, violin-Mellotron and Glockenspiel
gives this song a special flavor. During my first listening
session Hypnos 69 their sound reminded me not only of KC
but more and more of (King Crimson inspired) Swedish formation
Anekdoten because of the tension between mellow, compelling
and violent interludes, the intense vocals, the fiery guitarwork,
the propulsive rhythm-section and the frequent use of the
Mellotron. But these are subjective musical observations,
I would like to emphasize that Hypnos 69 delivers very pleasant
and varied, often compelling and dynamic progrock. On this
CD we can enjoy 10 strong and varied compositions: between
propulsive and compelling with wonderful Hammond and Mellotron
waves and splendid guitar (from bluesy to Cry Baby wah-wah
drenched guitar solos) in the alternating titletrack, bombastic
with a heavy rhythm-section, powerful saxophone, fiery guitar
and a lush Hammond organ sound in The Antagonist, warm acoustic
guitar and vocals, majestic violin-Mellotron and a Lucky
Man-like synthesizer solo in Halfway To The Stars, from
dreamy and compelling to bombastic with a surprising piece
of flamenco guitar and howling electric guitar in the exciting
The Point Of No Return and a great build-up and grand finale
in the mindblowing final song Deus Ex Machina, from dreamy
with Fender Rhodes electric piano and spacey slide guitar
to breathtaking interplay between sensitive electric guitar
and violin-Mellotron, goose bumps!
I am very glad that I was able to visit the Hypnos 69
gig, otherwise I still would have been unaware of this outstanding
Belgian band that has made captivating progrock on their
fourth album, highly recommended to King Crimson and Anekdoten
fans and Heavy Prog aficonados.
www.progwalhalla.com
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