EP REVIEW: Stresstest – Hebecta

Screaming can be extremely cathartic. Whilst it might seem taboo to some, there are often times where all you can do is scream. It is like unleashing an animal within, and it also shows that no matter how much humans progress over the years and centuries, there will always be something primal inside us. For HEBECTA, there is a lot to scream about. She’s had a love of music since early childhood; however, her path to being a singer was full of bumps in the road and false starts. She was due to go to a music school, but she dropped out of music for ten years after her fiancé didn’t want her to be a singer. After biting the bullet and finding her way at a music school, all hell broke loose in August 202o after protests began in Belarus following the presidential election, and then the war in Ukraine started in February 2022, and yet somehow through all this she has managed to pick herself up and get back to work.

The result is Stresstest, a five-song EP that starts off rather gentle. The pleasant and quiet instruments that Stress opens with turn into a guitar-riff heavy song. However, when HEBECTA sings, it is like a siren luring you in with her beautiful vocals. There are no screams in sight, which is not a bad thing, as her voice is stunning. The only issue is that during the guitar solo mid-way through the song, the drums come crashing in. This would not be an issue if they were mixed in well together, but unfortunately they are not, as the drums sound like they have been layered on top of the guitar audio, making it sound noisy and harsh.

Thankfully, The Beast rectifies this. With its bass-heavy funk and HEBECTA‘s vocals unleashing their full potential, this song is a vast improvement on the opener. Even Hangman, with its slow and stripped-back production, works. It technically shouldn’t as it does slow down the pacing a bit; however, it is so enchanting that it becomes a highlight. Furthermore, it goes into The River, which is the opposite side of the coin. This one’s a snarling, angry song, but it still has the charm of the previous tracks, so it works very well. Closer Eight Shovels is a slightly peculiar one. The instruments are fine and fun to listen to, but the production on the vocals make them sound distorted and hard to hear; it’s a jarring contrast, and makes the song sound very unusual. You’d think that this would mess up the pacing of the EP, but the overall pacing is rather even and mid-tempo.

In conclusion, Stresstest is a brilliant, nuanced and fascinating EP. Whilst it is not completely perfect, it showcases a fantastic vocalist who is a force to be reckoned with. The songs are well-produced, and although there are some flaws they do mix well together. The overall pacing is fantastic and ultimately what this EP really proves is that screaming can be so cathartic.

Rating: 7/10

Stresstest is set for release on June 30th via self-release.

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