Hippotraktor is back with a vengeance.
Three years after their debut album, the band comprising Stefan de Graef (vocals), Jakob Fiszer (bass), Chiaran Verheyden (guitar), Lander De Nyn (drums) and Sander Rom (guitar/vocals) continue their adventure with Pelagic Records for the release of Stasis.
From the very first notes, Descent crushes and suffocates us under its jerky saturation, with a few more airy leads before the vocal parts strengthen the oppression. Clean vocals take over, giving us a few short moments of respite that sometimes join the obvious complexity of aggressive passages, as on the final where they merge before giving way to Echo and its haunting tones. The rhythm is quite natural, alternating between violence and gentleness in an abrasive yet accessible approach, while Silver Tongue returns in a fascinating and relatively soaring dissonance that perfectly lends itself to the impressive eruptions. The rhythm slows down to an unhealthy groove, before showing Prog and even Post-Rock roots on Renegade, which offers the album’s most intense contrast, reinforcing each of the two opposites in its own style throughout. The Indifferent Human Eye begins softly, with a few muffled notes, but the mix soon ignites, allowing the two voices to respond and reinforce each other before the Djent part that leads to the crushing Stasis, the eponymous composition. Its darkness makes it extremely conducive to any kind of sudden heaviness, as often happens in the course of the track, and then The Reckoning brings a refreshing, hypnotic touch, but we begin to dread the explosion that doesn’t arrive until halfway through, dragging us down to the final moments of silence.
With its abrasive approach, Hippotraktor mixes heavy and sometimes complex styles while allowing its listener welcome moments of gentleness. Stasis is not a really accessible album, but it knows how to reveal itself to the deserving.
85/100
