Description
The French pioneers of cinematic metal, HYPNO5E, are back with their 3rd album, Shores of the Abstract Line. This release explores in greater depth the philosophical landscapes crafted by the band on their first 2 albums. Operating in the fractured no-mans-land where memory meets imagination, HYPNO5E’s raison d’être is providing foundation for the unknown and unimagined.
… but don’t be deterred by such conceptual enthusiasm, as their music is powerful, visceral and immediate. There are moments that remind you of the expansive technical elaborations of BTBAM, but there is also the careful melancholia of Cynic and the sheer power of Amen Ra… but in the end, all these comparisons fail – HYPNO5E’s organic sound is undoubtably their own. Unlike so many bands who rely on a single sound or technique to create their music, HYPNO5E are not bound to any one precondition.
The band, formed originally in Montpelier, France in 2004 when guitarist and songwriter Emmanuel Jessua teamed up with drummer Thibault Lamy, put on a unique and truly hypnotic live show, which is a compelling mix of music, movie samples and emotive visuals. The band honed their craft on international tours with Gojira and The Dillinger Escape Plan.
Shores of the Abstract Line is a dreamily muscular response to the deep feelings of yearning and displacement which burn within us. Delicate passages of reminiscence merge with deep seated rage to form a panoptic portrait of the human condition. Latin influences blend seamlessly with riff-driven prog to form a heady concoction that toys with the accepted modes and structures of progressive music.The result is an album that is “confident and uncertain, excited and depressed… this dichotomy is one of the band’s leitmotivs, that’s how we get all those highs and lows successively, just like in our actual lives. We play bipolar music”, comments Jessua.
There is a fine line between madness and genius and this record exists on the very edge of that precipice – Shores of the Abstract Line is certainly a challenging, but deeply rewarding listening experience. Immerse yourself in this album, and you may never find your way out.
