HAIL SPIRIT NOIR

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2020/09/14/odds-ends-september-14-2020/

While the three preceding releases weren´t exactly primitive and simple, the new sextet lineup do create an even more massive and more busy soundscape. Hard (and more mellow) rocking guitars, bass, and drums, loads of vintage synths/keyboards/organ, and well performed clean vocals, harmonies and choirs. This is 60s/70s influenced heavy progressive rock with a strong psychadelic touch. The contemporary artist which comes closest to the sound on "Eden in Reverse" is probably Opeth and their 70s hard rock infused progressive rock sound, but Hail Spirit Noir have a more driving, repetitive rhytmic pulse (Krautrock/space rock influenced). The latter influence is especially heard on the 10:20 minutes long closing track "Automata 1980", but the hard rocking repetitive rhythmic playing is there on most tracks.

Hail Spirit Noir come from a black metal background, but while the three preceding releases did feature black metal elements, they weren´t really black metal. It was just an element of their sound. That element is now almost completely gone from their music, and "Eden in Reverse" does not feature much more than 1 minute of black metal influenced sounds. A raw black metal styled scream at the end of "Alien Lip Reading", and a few sections with tremolo picked distorted guitars and some faster-paced drumming are about it. The clean vocals are performed in a laid-back almost sedated fashion. Very pleasant on the ears, but maybe slightly too one-dimensional in the end. On the other hand the vocals suit the atmosphere of the instrumental part of the music perfectly.

"Eden in Reverse" features an organic and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s another strong album release by Hail Spirit Noir. They´ve moved forward and have added new elements to their sound and they´ve removed other elements, but ultimately they still sound unmistakably like themselves. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

A fellow progressive metal reviewer on the Prog Archives, Silly Puppy, has written extensively in his reviews about the rise of "Psychedelic Metal" in the past decade, a movement of which Hail Spirit Noir is a part. Unfortunately for this band, this invited me to make some very unflattering comparisons to another psychedelic metal record released this year, Oranssi Pazuzu's Mestarin Kynsi. While Mestarin Kynsi was marred a bit by misplaced black metal vocals, it contextualized its "weirdness" by putting together a masterclass in generating and releasing tension in the songs. Eden in Reverse is just all weird all the time with no respite. I for one will not be returning to this record or this band for quite some time.

1. "Darwinian Beasts" (2:18) great song that introduces the futuristic sound and music that is to follow. (4.25/5)

2. "Incense Swirls" (7:14) sustained synth note is followed by pounding rock marching us forward. Jakub Roszak (RETROSPECTIVE)-like voice enters to begin telling us the story as the music trots along. Bass gets some interesting lee-way during fourth minute. Then vocalist(s) return singing int two different octaves. Nice! Scaled back instrumental passage in the fifth minute is cool--and is followed by a return to the higher-voiced chorus. The the marching beat is reestablished over which some interesting not-flashy synthesizer solos preceding the introduction of a new theme: a guitar arpeggio. Underwhelming ending. (Just prepping us for the next song?) (13.25/15)

3. "Alien Lip Reading" (6:36) great thick atmosphere with a very satisfying PAIN OF SALVATION-like wall-of-sound melodies, chord shifts, and feel. A top three song for me. (9.25/10)

4. "Crossroads" (5:09) opens with Gregorian chant-like effected male vocal before guitars and band launch into a drag race to the next song at the one minute mark. The simple and straightforward metal with simple synth riffs are fairly funny for their generic sound. The only saving grace is/are the vocals. What voices! (8.5/10)

5. "The Devil's Blind Spot" (3:42) guitar and synth created horn sounds open this one before full band enters to establish the foundation. But then it stays instrumental (other than some kind of growlish screams). Builds to a solid one minute finale. (8.75/10)

6. "The First Ape on New Earth" (7:26) it's off to the races from the opening note. The computer-esque drone voice of the lead singer is half BLUE ÖYSTER CULT half PAIN OF SALVATION--and the lyrics couldn't be more appropriate to both. Great tremolo strum in the fifth minute to pick things up. This, then, leads into a couple of nice whole-band power weaves. Very cool. Great bass play. Nice melodies that gradually, subtly worm their way into one's brain. Another top three song. (13.5/15)

7. "Automata 1980" (10:20) opens like a TODD RUNDGREN/TANGERINE DREAM/ "Twilight Zone" electronica experiment. Drums join in during the third minute while keys continue to do weirdness only. At 3:45 deep male voice enters with bank of Mellotron angelic voices. At 4:45 drums stop for cymbal crashes and heavily-treated choral voices singing "oohs" until 5:45 when the music smooths out into an equal palette of guitars and synths and more solid, laid back metal drumming while vocals become multi-tracked to sound multiplied. tremolo guitar slo in the eighth minute is very cool--gives the song a kind of "Court of the Crimson King" feel to it. Finishes with a Berlin School like sequencer sound as Gregorian voices vocalise in the far background. My favorite song on the album and oh, so different from the others! (18/20)

Total Time 42:45

My favorite aspect of this music are the vocals: they are excellent. It is also very refreshing to hear such adventurousness from a Prog Metal keyboardist!

B+/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

The Greek trio had built a following in the earlier part of the decade with a sweep of three Black Metal albums that always meandered different soundscapes. Loved by Metal fans and respected in the Progressive universe, they largely trailed a path of their own. A long hiatus ensued after 2016, and in 2020 the band finally broke radio silence with EDEN IN REVERSE.

During this interregnum the band completely transfigured their sound, all but abandoning their Black Metal roots. EDEN IN REVERSE is a complete change of course, but in many different directions. Vocals now lean into Gothic territory, synthesisers went back in time and space to 1970s Germany, whereas guitars riffs acquired a psychedelic dimension that further expands the strength of their sound.

This is still pretty much Heavy Metal music, but is also so much more than that. EDEN IN REVERSE revisits important elements of 1970s Space and Electronic, but blends it brilliantly with modern Metal. There are great introspective moments, more than inspired on TANGERINE DREAM, followed by blasts of energy with heavy guitar playing. Aesthetically, each successive track slowly builds a peculiar kind of tension, mysterious, intriguing, almost like a thriller in space. The end result is remarkably refreshing, with a clear element of innovation (especially in the Metal universe). HAIL SPIRIT NOIR have definitely created a space of their own in rock music.

And it all comes packaged in a concise record, delivering a powerful watershed of sound that elegantly avoids tiring the listener. There are no weak moments, just up and downs in a dense plot. Pressing play is opening the gate to a wonderful journey. I hope HAIL SPIRIT NOIR continues exploring this new niche they created, but if history serves as template, they are unlikely to remain in the same place for long.

This is the second record in 2020 I feel to deserve the 5 stars. Be it for Metal or Progressive fans, this is a very special album.

In the beginning the band's focus was heavy on the metal side of the equation but as each subsequent album that followed: "Oi Magoi" and "Mayhem In Blue," it became clear that this was a band that could maintain the exact same recipe of ingredients but created a completely new album simply by changing the ratio of the musical elements on board. Celebrating a decade of existence, HAIL SPIRIT NOIR returns four years after its last release with its fourth album EDEN IN REVERSE which sheds much of the black metal of the previous output and shifts into a psychedelic swirling vortex of heavy prog laced with keyboard rich gymnastics that add the most spectacular spaced out trips into the unpredictable band's antics that finds more influences from synth bands like Kraftwerk rather than Darkthrone.

The album which sounds like a retrofuturisitc jump into the soundtrack of "The Twilight Zone" indeed brings much retro charm to its near 43 minute run with trippy oscillating Moog synthesizers bringing a time bending wobble effect to the majority of the album's run. Gone are the raspy black metal vocals and the new clean vocals display a mood of nonchalance as if the space portal jumping experience is just too exhausting to get excited about however a blood curdling scream or two pierces the veil every now and again. In many ways EDEN IN REVERSES reminds me of a much more psychedelic version of post-black metal Ulver than anything from HAIL SPIRIT NOIR's prior repertoire. This album hosts seven exquisitely designed tunes that find the perfect balance between electro-robotic detachment and heavy prog guitar heft. At times reminding of 70s Pink Floyd (especially in the vocals) and at others like a darker version of Japan's Ghost that discovered the joys of heavy metal.

The album flows incredibly well as do all HAIL SPIRIT NOIR albums with seamless melodies blending with polyrhythmic complexities made all the more engaging by the barrage of synthesized spaciness which make you wonder if Jean-Michel Jarre is involved somewhere behind the scenes. The band states that this album takes the music out of the retro hybridization of the 60s / 70s and pushes it forward to the 70s / 80s era which eschewed the overuse of the black metal bombast and instead sailed off to planet Lysergia for a more mind-bending psychedelic experience. The results are something familiar yet so far away from where the band has visited in the past. Despite the retro drenched motifs, EDEN IN REVERSE is clearly a product of the here and now with a crystal clear production job and ample doses of extreme metal riffing albeit it set back a bit to emphasize the synth attacks.

Despite the clear detour from the metal universe, the energetic bombast still exists well within the confines of the head banging domain that HAIL SPIRIT NOIR has always occupied. The album was produced and mixed by Dimitris Douvras (Rotting Christ) and mastered by Alan Douches (Nile, Aborted, Whitechapel). Add to that a cameo vocal appearance from Borknagar's Lars Nedland appears on the track "Crossroads." Despite HAIL SPIRIT NOIR's dedication to experimentation that insures that each and every album released carries a distinct personality apart from what came before, the true success of this trio is in crafting instantly catchy compositions that favor melody over avant-garde weirdness and only after an accessible foundation has been laid can all the tricks and trinkets find their way into the mix. What can i say? HAIL SPIRIT NOIR never fails to disappoint and 2020's EDEN IN REVERSE despite a totally new direction is hardly an exception to that. Excellent!

4.5 rounded up why not

But then comes the black metal, more as an equal part of the fusion rather than the core sound of the band. Present mostly in the harsh vocals and lyricism, now and then it's in the riffs and the blast beat drumming. Several bands have attempted the black metal/psychedelia crossover, and none I've heard so far have done it in such a strangely accessible way, such a memorable manner. As always, Hail Spirit Noir has several different types of songs present on their album, and they're good at writing and executing all of them. I Mean You Harm showcases their more straightforward, aggressive side, emphasizing the black metal half of their sound. The title track is a highlight ? with open, darkly atmospheric sections and well-integrated heavier parts. Each track is distinct, and some have unique and instantly recognizable bits, such as the quirky, odd-time, and hard to follow keyboard intro to Riders to Utopia, the symphonic instrumentation of How to Fly in Darkness, and the carnival music of Lost in Satan's Charms. The band is able to keep momentum for heavier areas, drop it when necessary and transform it. The solos are strong, with the exception of the uncertain, wandering one on Riders to Utopia.

Unfortunately, Mayhem in Blue's main flaw is that when the band tries to be creepy, sometimes it comes off as more like a fun Halloween party than what I assume they were going for. It doesn't totally ruin the effect, as it's only a little cheesy instead. The "open" atmosphere works very well, on the other hand, when the music is soft but dark, the drums are sparse, and the clean vocals shine. This is especially effective on the title track (as mentioned earlier) and The Cannibal Tribe Came From The Sea.

Mayhem in Blue is on par with the rest of Hail Spirit Noir's work. The band continues to evolve, if only subtly, as they integrate small new oddities, new atmospheres, and new songwriting styles into what they've already accomplished. They are able to mold their unique, signature sound to different songs with different needs. Mayhem in Blue, along with Hail Spirit Noir's previous works, is definitely worth checking out, especially if you are searching for something on the stranger side of music.

Stylistically the music on "Mayhem in Blue" continues the psychadelic/space rock tinged progressive extreme metal style of the first two albums by the band. It´s music which owes as much to artists like early Pink Floyd and Hawkwind as it does to an act like Darkthrone and their ilk. The black metal element is relatively restrained here though, but there are a couple of pretty raw moments featured on the album (including a few blast beats). Mostly though we´re treated to a more mellow, dark, and twisted progressive rock/metal sound. Keyboards and especially organ play an important role in the band´s music, and you can add The Doors to the list of influences as keyboard player Harris often sounds like a bizarre dark carnival version of Ray Manzarek.

"Mayhem in Blue" features 6 tracks and a full playing time of 40:29 minutes, and all tracks featured on the album are high quality compositions. The tracks are adventurous, memorable, and dynamic. The catchiness of the material is one of the great assets of the album, and even the 10:52 minutes long "Lost in Satan's Charms" is instantly catchy. It´s probably because the band don´t go overboard with complex song structures and technical playing, but instead keep it relatively simple and focused on atmosphere. Simple doesn´t mean regular vers/chorus simple though and the band often break away from that tried and true formula to create more adventurous structures, but they still manage to keep things accessible.

The musicianship is strong on all posts, and the playing tight yet organic. Lead vocalist/guitarist Theoharis has a powerful raspy black metal style vocal delivery, but the pleasant warm clean vocals by guest vocalist Dimitris Dimitrakopoulos are even stronger. The combination of the two vocal styles bring much to Hail Spirit Noir´s music. "Mayhem in Blue" features a raw organic sound production, which brings out the best in the music, and upon conclusion it´s another really strong release by Hail Spirit Noir. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.