ALBUM REVIEW: Stasis – Hippotraktor
Our history of mythology and literature will tell you that demons and beasts of untold malevolence are the most frightening things imaginable. Ironically, however, it is often humanity itself that wields the power to instil true horror. HIPPOTRAKTOR’s second album, Stasis, peers through the lens of someone unfamiliar with the follies of the human race, and the results are quite terrifying. This is the stage set for the Belgian collective’s next step forward. It’s bold, complex, thoughtful and often malicious, and as a second stroke of genius for this exciting prog metal outfit, a fantastic sign of things to come.
Just three years prior, the band grabbed the world by the throat with their debut Meridian. Touting the creative might of its original trio, with the added ferocity of labelmate Stefan De Graef of PSYCHONAUT and the now departed L’ITCH frontman Sander Rom, Meridian introduced one of prog’s greatest, most strangely-named emerging secrets. It also introduced the story which Stasis wraps its gnarled, jolting riffs around. For among this playground of terrific chaos and beauty is the tale of a lone man – a nomad grown aside of humanity who is forced to create his own truths about his surrounding world. Meridian, then, is a liberating listen. It frees the listener from the horrors of what’s beyond their headphones, allowing us to escape to something truly unimaginable. Stasis is not so kind. Through De Graef’s expertly vivid narration, we’re plunged back into the depraved reality in which we’re forced to rediscover the plight of our world. Even without its explosive instrumentation, Stasis’ well-realised concept easily makes it one of the year’s heaviest listens.
Those uninterested in peering through the conceptual magnifying glass will certainly miss out, but, like its predecessor, the album has boundless entertainment to offer still. Stasis is a rare album in that it starts at impossibly high heights and just keeps climbing. This is accentuated even by the album’s very structure. The initial three songs are flashes in the pan, comparative snapshots of prog brilliance that lead the listener into the record’s wider canvas, pieces stretching just shy of eight minutes, and deservingly so. As a reminder, it is not that these shorter tracks are inherently inferior, but the way in which they guide you into the more explorative soundscapes means Stasis always pulls listeners in a purposeful direction: upward. Regardless of size, each track on Stasis has the power to stun. Silver Tongue, for instance, is a pocket-sized supernova. Its ebb and flow between deceitful rests and instantaneous violence is a mighty thing to consume but, like many of the album’s moments of intensity, carries the band’s foundational groove that keeps HIPPOTRAKTOR’s violence on a consistent heading.
Underlining it all are some truly massive performances. The twin peaks of vocalists De Graef and Rom are a heavenly pairing. Like cheese and fine wine (or something less pretentious) they create this swinging dichotomy between guttural, abrasive bellows, to piercing, immense cries. De Graef in particular, being used to the role of the main vocalist elsewhere, is able to focus on digging deep and, across some of modern prog’s most profoundly disturbing material, delivers his most dread-inducing performances yet. Across such demanding music, this sort of variety is an essential ballast and Stasis leads a masterclass in keeping those scales steady. The record’s songwriting strength is credited to the band’s father and guitarist Chiaran Verheyden. It’s not an easy task to write four back-to-back eight-minute songs, let alone HIPPOTRAKTOR songs, and escape copying your own homework, but the record’s final run has no trouble in finding novel ways to eradicate your eardrums again and again.
In just a few years, the technical leap from Meridian to Stasis is comparable to jumping a canyon and Verheyden’s efficacy for keeping such complex music accessible has only sharpened. Backed by what is effectively a fellowship of prog deities, Stasis exemplifies and vindicates the band’s position as one of Pelagic Records’ most quickly growing outfits. The album leaves listeners on a serene note, aloft the immovable peak it has built itself, gazing upon the world from new heights. Where the band choose to take us next remains to be seen but, given the journey so far, we’d follow them anywhere.
Rating: 9/10
Stasis is set for release on June 7th via Pelagic Records.
Like HIPPOTRAKTOR on Facebook.