If you haven’t heard of HYPEROMM yet, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. We came across the one-man project of Russian Anton Trubin by chance a few months after it was released in September 2019 and found ourselves shockingly impressed with its technical and melodic style.
The album opens with no holds barred, getting right down to the nitty gritty in the first notes of thrashing drums and screaming vocals of “Portal.” It’s pretty straightforward death metal with some nice technicalities to it. “Weighing of the Heart” puts some more emphasis on the backing instrumentals, before getting into some classic heavy metal guitars and death metal growls.
The symphonic intro to “Metempsychosis” is beautiful but perhaps a touch out of place with its very quick build-up into something much harsher a few moments later. The song narrows its scope quickly, though still dances around the spectrum of sound quite a bit. “Patala” starts out too deep into the extreme metal genre for my personal taste, then briefly passes through a folk soundscape before turning sharply back into extreme/death metal. The album takes a surprising twist with “Eternal Feast” and its intriguing guitar riffing. There’s something vaguely reminiscent of Jesper Strömblad‘s [CYHRA, ex-IN FLAMES] style, while the solo-melody line has an almost neoclassic element to it.
The vocals feels like a balance of Alexi Laiho [CHILDREN OF BODOM], Niilo Sevänen [INSOMNIUM], and Anders Fríden [IN FLAMES]. They never mange to go too extreme and keep a degree of melody in them; I’d wager they’re a nice balance for those who can be easily put off by too much black metal in their vocals.
“Charnel Wraith” has a surprising dance part towards the end that worked rather brilliantly into the mix of the rest of the song. “Illusory State” feels as though it may have taken inspiration from some old bit-soundtracks in the beginning, while “Vortex of Hell” enters more extreme areas with its blast beats and screams, as well as the sharper notes in the keys; however, when it slows down a bit, the guitar sound has a country flavor.
The title track, “Transcendence,” starts with quick notes to lead you into the song, backed up by a very nice acoustic guitar. This drops off and enters a more electronic soundscape for a short period, and then swiftly ends, transitioning into the final track, “The Story.” The closer has some very CHILDREN OF BODOM -reminiscent sounds at times in both the guitar and keys, though it has its own style and a fun mix of light electronic/dance and Gothenburg elements.
Knowing that there are still creative minds like this out there help ease the pain of losing others as time goes on. While it would benefit from proper drums, the overall creativity and versatility of the album leave a pretty satisfying product from start to finish. Which songs you like best will most likely depend on which ends of the genre spectrum you lean towards.
Written by Bear Wiseman
Musicalypse, 2019
OV: 590
Tracklist
- Portal
- Weighing of the Heart
- Metempsychosis
- Patala
- Eternal Feast
- Charnel Wraith
- Illusory State
- Vortex of Hell
- Transcendence
- The Story
Lineup
Anton Trubin
Label
Independent
Links
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