Hypnos - _The Revenge Ride_
(Morbid, 2001)
by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10)
In little over a year, this Czech band progressed a good distance for a staunchly death metal act: _The Revenge Ride_ -- Hypnos' second album in less years of existence -- is a comfortingly competent death metal album which owes by far its heaviest debt to Carcass. When Hypnos' self-titled debut EP [CoC #48] evidenced their arise from the cleaving-in-two of long-time Czech death metal beacon Krabathor, all it really proved on its own was that Bruno and Pegas -- bassist/vocalist and drummer respectively -- were keeping the rough, aggressive death-pounding approach of their former band on minimal life support with few visitors allowed to affect its character. _In Blood We Trust_ [CoC #51] affirmed that Hypnos were not about to take the easier road to success in their native country by blueprinting themselves on American death/grind: _TRR_ is the confident follow-through of that first defiant blow against local trends. It is obvious that through practice Hypnos have sharpened themselves into a tighter, more-technically-able unit; Harris Johns' production, mastered at Morrisound, preserves instrumental clarity while giving individual elements their appropriate power. Hypnos' progression on a purely technical level has been simultaneous with a progression in the quality of their songs -- but unfortunately Hypnos have too often chosen to forgo being original in favour of liberally borrowing from their predecessors. In fact, it's substantially only Carcass that Hypnos have borrowed directly from, but this is more than enough to neuter praise for _TRR_ as a -Hypnos- album. To put it simply: though much of _TRR_ is good, too many of its best bits are bits of _Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious_ regurgitated in more or less their original form. Solo breaks like the one on "Endorsed by Satan" are where this can be most obviously heard -- though more than a hint of the British legends' riff style now accents the bulk of Hypnos' music. As you can tell from the mark I've awarded them, Hypnos' failure to define themselves apart and -ahead- of their predecessors does not mean that _TRR_ is an unenjoyable listen -- on the contrary, the _Necroticism_-esque solos are probably my favourite bits of _TRR_. However, as with Exhumed's albums, too much of the enjoyment of Hypnos 2001 is the -real- work of other bands: Hypnos will have to be more original and individual if they want to prove themselves to be an original death metal band of individual note.
(article published 12/4/2002)
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