Thursday 22 October 2015

Hyne - 'MMXV' (Album Review)

By: Hunter Young

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 16/10/2015
Label: Independent




They show off groove without being flashy, talent without being full of themselves, and honestly which puts many bigger bands to shame. If we can see more of this, I am going to have to get more hours in my day! And listen for that little Sabbathian charm!

‘MMXV’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Black Paint
2). Undertow
3). Keep It Low
4). The Apprentice
5). Orbit
6). Monkey’s Paw
7). Ride The Snake
8). Into The Sun

Hyne is:

Koschelski | vocals
Doerty | guitar
Roos | guitar
Stefanmann | bass
Björn | drums

The Review:

In an increasingly fad driven approach to the metal scene as a whole, I really appreciate when some of the niche stuff starts making waves. Having freshly dropped from a jeans and t shirt clad angel, the newest from Hyne, ‘MMXV’ (2015 if you can't read letters), brings us back to a relaxed, fun genre of southern dirt metal.

Sounding somewhat like some early Clutch, with some Pumpjack, Superchief, or Brand New Sin swirled in, Hyne comes out swinging with an almost Sabbathian southern metal classic, ‘Black Paint’. It starts a bit generic, but definitely hits its preferred stride later in the song with a riff that is simple and polished. Hyne loves to rock, which is what the genre is predominantly about. However, keeping them tanked with Lead heavy gasoline brings fresh air to a genre that lets people just sit on lacklustre riffs as long as they sound the part (Brand New Sin, I am looking at you), with very little trimming of the band stencil. Hyne rectified this in the way Clutch did, by giving us a better pace, better riffs, and making us want to stomp our feet and wreck our necks in between sips of our frosty beers!

Borrowing from the heavier blues genres, they use a modicum of effects, such as pitch shifters to keep it liquid and far out.  Wah to get that real nasty dirt, and of course some fuzz to cure what ails ya. Huge amp sounds, a bombastic bass line, great vocals, this album really needs very little extra to go big. The album never drags, as they show wonderful pacing in the songs themselves, like when a riff just starts to take over the clock they come in with a change or just crank that lead channel up and let someone take off the blinders. They don't suffer from small production either, keeping everything pretty equal, nothing washing out anything else, nothing too low to enjoy, you can definitely feel the love and time on this record.

This album/band actually has a lot to offer, with an early highlight in ‘Keep It Low’, as they give us those lovely space vocals backed with some stellar finger dancing, and their vocalist who wouldn't be amiss in the current Stoner revival either. I would almost say dulcet, but it's dirtier than that. Its chrome and oil, with a little bit of grumble, running down a midnight asphalt trail. They do slow it a bit on cuts ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘Orbit’, where they showcase rock solid form of the instrumental on the latter. Latter cuts like ‘Ride the Snake’ highlight a bass player who is less body on the stage with an instrument, and very much a thrumming, bottom end powerhouse throughout the album; he's just very clearly shown here, and on the last third mainly. They show off groove without being flashy, talent without being full of themselves, and honestly which puts many bigger bands to shame. If we can see more of this, I am going to have to get more hours in my day! And listen for that little Sabbathian charm!

‘MMXV is available here



Band info: facebook | bandcamp