Band : Hypnos69
Album Title : Legacy
Label : Elektrohasch Schallplatten Records
Distributor : Sonic Rendezvous
Release Date : 03/09/2010
Review : CD

Belgian vintage rockers Hypnos69 took their sweet time getting Legacy out of their systems, but sometimes waiting for perfection is worth it.

The 18-minute opener “Requiem” sounds at times like it could have come out of King Crimson's In the Court/Red-era or Camel’s Mirage-era, but that's only on the surface. Beneath, the band continues with their own unique vision. Atmospherics and flute take this piece in a distinctly folky direction and then the band grooves to some complex rhythms and soaring sax melodies. You also get a pure blast of Steve Houtmeyers’ lead guitar work at the end, although you'll find plenty of that on this song and on this LP. “Aerial architect” kicks of with a heavy inevitable catchy King Crimson-like rhythm with some fierce sax and guitar solos augmented with a dynamic bass line by Tom Vanlaer and a swinging drum by Dave Houtmeyers. You’ll love the melodic flute on the fetching “My journey to the stars”, and the dreamy “The sad destiny we lament” is a haunting number chock full of synth washes and nice vocal layering that will just take you away on a intergalactic journey. “The empty hourglass” is a complex piece with several tempo shifts and excellent guitar/sax interplay in the middle. “Jerusalem” on the other hand has the breath-taking aura of early 70s British prog rock (Colosseum for example) wedded to the free jazz of Steve Marx’s soaring sax mayhem. One can't help but draw comparisons with Gong, although stylistically the music on Legacy bears little relation to the Daevid Allen-camp. The other long epic and finale “The great work” moves smoothly through a variety of Legacy-themes, weaving a sea of hypnotic riffs which help drive the song through a cumulating of tempos and moods. The Pink Floyd-ish space rock elements are here, the intricate Focus/ Yes rhythms complete with lots of sax noodling, tasty guitar/flute work, and Steve Houtmeyers hazy trademark vocal style. Despite being lengthy, its never dull, and when I saw them in concert recently in JC Sojo (where they were frankly outstanding) it served as a very effective opening number.

I just want to say that this is a totally amazing CD, both the timeless music and the artwork by Malleus. I love the whole concept. If you like progressive rock, then this is the one CD you MUST buy in 2010. It is that fucking good.

100/100

Cosmicmasseur.
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