First off, this album has arrived in an old school cardboard promo sleeve. Yessssss! Secondly there is no printing on the disc itself so it takes a couple of attempts to put it in the player the right way. OK Boomer! Like a fucking USB stick this thing is.
No track listing no info on the band. I had two choices – wade in blindly and hope I don’t bang my knee on the bog seat again (sorry flashback to Travelodge stay at the weekend) or use the world wide web. I figured my guesswork may be lame so plumped for the latter.
Dying Hydra are from Denmark and are formed of three chaps – the intriguing named Patrick Fragtrup (was he a victim of Willy Wonka) on guitar /vocals, Lars Pontoppidan on drums and also on guitar /vocals Tejs Kyhl. I gotta stop a second and remake on the names. I love them. As a DJ and reviewer who is jaded with band members called X, J, Qi or Satanic fuckmaster the 3rd it is joyous to see folks with quite frankly awesome names that are enjoyable to say and read. It makes me happy – thank your parents guys!
Onto the music. With a name like Dying Hydra you will probably be expecting something gargantuan and epic sounding. If you are a gamer you would expect a band with this name to be blasting as Kratos is made to hack and slash at a mythological beast by the thumbs of some techno puppeteer.
So does the music fit the name (as names seem to be the theme of this review). Yes indeed it does. Dying Hydra state that they play atmospheric sludge, which is kinda true. Labels are always trite – especially in these multi micro genre days. What I am hearing on “Of Lowly Origin” is Death Doom with progressive elements and bits of heavy stoner. There are sections that remind me of Sleep, the hypnotic smoky riffs are heavy on Rootborn for example and have me swaying away and drifting off in the same way Pike and Co. Do. The spoken Danish vocal section feels like it is being beamed in from outer space and I start getting some Uffomammut vibes as well. Bizarre for such an earthy band. Talking of Roots – the album opens with the post rock vibes of “Earliest Root” whose intro is almost identical to track six Ashed Eyes. In other circumstances I would feel cheated but it gives the album a circular and organic feel with each track definitely part of the album and adding to the overall vibe. Some big, big chunky riffs involved throughout that sit atop low angry vocals and then are spun about by proggy Arabic or perhaps Hellenic rhythms.
Species Adrift opens with the kind of downtuned bass riff that Primitive Man have been assaulting us with for years before lurching into a dark and atmospheric slab of death infused dooooooom. The drums are loose and splashy like the oars on a dinghy wielded by an inexperienced sailor. It creates a space in the sound and lets the song breathe.
Doom or atmospheric sludge has gotta be about the vibe and Dying Hydra have a big hulking pot of if strapped to their backs and are spraying it all over these six tracks like Fat Sam’s crew with splurge guns.
Undergrowth that brings things to a close is fuhucking huuuuuge sounding. Nearly ten minutes of riffs that just grow and grow like Godzilla rising out of the depths – or more aptly the Kraken. It breaks down into a softer section that gives me Victim of Changes vibes. Right in the feels man!
These guys know when to build a song up, take it to the edge, pull it gently back then send it careering off into the ether with a mighty barnacled boot. Great stuff.
(8/10 Matt Mason)
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