Cross pollination between musical genres yields divergent results. At its best, combining disparate elements creates an unearthly concoction that both tests the limits of each discernible path while stretching its new sonic textures into broader and unexplored territories. As death metal delved further into unheard realms of complexity, new artists either jumped at the chance to outdo their forefathers in speed and technicality or they exercised restraint, devolving and re-imagining the barnstorming days of yore. Each path met with resistance, but for a brief period of time everyone felt the tectonic shift in styles. Deadguy and Botch sparked the metallic-hardcore fuse during the 1990s, and though their influence is undeniable, most would agree that stick of dynamite doused out during the Myspace boom at the turn of the millennium. Music grows tired and bands try new things, but even hybrid acts spawn countless imitators and the “new thing” becomes the norm and it too grows tired and monotonous.
What, then, of Eryn Non Dae? The French quintet recently signed to Metal Blade records, home of like-minded post-metallers The Ocean and mother-label to Guy Kozowyk (The Red Chord)’s Black Market Activities imprint. They’ve received relatively little press in North America, and yes, they resemble Meshuggah. The reference was bound to rear its head, and it’s well warranted. During its harsher moments, Hydra Lernaia steamrolls its listeners with the recognizable Swedes’ polyrhythmic madness, detuned chugging, and vocalist Mathieu Nogues telepathically summoning Jens Kidman. The spacey, Nothing-era octave leads even make an appearance on the album opener. It’s a twisting ride and well worth your hard-earned cash, but don’t think for a second they’ve hopped on the off-time chug-a-lug bandwagon.
Everything slows down and the walls behind your head evaporate. The wall of noise gives way to ambience and stirring electronics while single notes ring out in a murky grey. There are plenty of face-ripping moments on this disc, but the shivers won’t set in until you’ve toured the ambient swamplands with END. The band rarely relents in their efforts to drag you by the hair through the darkest recesses of depravity. Seriously, put “The Decline and the Fall” on, through headphones, in a dark room. The feeling is less akin to Isis, and more to Blut Aus Nord.
There is a lot to love about Hydra Lernaia. It’s like that worn-down, out-of-work cousin that horrifies you, but still manages to put a smile on your face at every Christmas gathering. It’s a genuinely dark and disturbing trip through nightmares that never feels forced or uninspired. In the same vein as the metalcore-echewers in Gaza, Eryn Non Dae worship, destroy, erase, and modify Fredrik Thordendal and Tomas Haake‘s template to the point where, by the end of the album, they have completely reshaped and remodeled a familiar sound and made it something completely original and unlike anything else coming out this year.
(9.0/10)
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