Hyperkaossmarket

This outfit may as well succeed in bringing back terms like “innovation”, “originality”, and “avant-gardism” when it comes to describing the Swiss metal scene. These three lads from Geneva have turned out worthy heirs to Coroner and Celtic Frost so far, and with their futuristic take on our favourite metal they can reach quite far, beyond the mere mortal perceptions…

but seriously, the moment their debut left my ears I had to take a minute in order to fully grasp this arresting, anomalous recording which blended the dystopian robotic bleakness of Voivod’s “Phobos” with the trippier dissonant progressions of the Canadians’ “Killing Technology” and “Dimension Hatross” on a dispassionate, sterile power/thrashy base. In other words, the veterans have a worthy competition in the face of this newly arisen act whose hallucinogenic soundscapes also recall another Swiss band from the distant past, Calhoun Conquer, but with more serious attitude, without the latter’s jolly crossover leanings those replaced by stolid mechanical, hygienic strides.

We look at the album reviewed here now, and we very quickly realize that the otherworldly fiesta carries on on full-throttle as the title can’t possibly preside over some ordinary, one-dimensional metallisms. And it doesn’t as the opening “We Took the Road One Day” takes the road least travelled with spacey Voivod-ish dissonances bumping into each other in a strange hippie-like nonchalant fashion before “Superluminal” stresses the fan out with bizarre abstract technical thrash, with hectic staccato riffs jumping up and down to an ultimately disorienting effect. The title-track is an avantgarde thrash/crossover roller-coaster ala the mentioned Calhoun Conquer, but there can’t be two songs in a row of the same type here, and “Golem” is a weird distorted progressive extravaganza with a couple of surging thrashing insertions.

Chaos and eclecticism reign supreme, and the second half doesn’t restore any order and discipline “Alien Sisters” the definitive soundtrack to the “Alien” franchise with the modernist, hyper-dry take on the Hawkwind repertoire mixed with the softer, more oblivious side of Prong (think “Rude Awakening”). “Secret Mirror” is rather “The Sham Mirrors” as this composition is the first and only semblance of normality, a stylish nod to mid-period Arcturus with the surreal operatic panoramas those marred a bit by the not very expressive, monotonous semi-declamatory vocals. “Animal Antimatter” is a masterpiece of extraterrestrial modern progressive thrash, a possible leftover from “Target Earth”, the Canadian masters courted again in a more wayward, more aggressive way; more uncharted aggression with “Breach the Laws of the Devil Himself” which is a short brutal, more death metal-prone piece with desirable, but fairly contrasting laid-back interludes the latter not featured that prominently on “Mindless Heroes”, a harsh industrial thrasher with nervy staccato riffage that refuses to speed up, but keeps the atmosphere tense and the delivery not very predictable until the last perplexing mechanized pirouette.

A most unusual offering that borders on the extreme progressive metal exploits as the guys never settle for a leading genre throughout, constantly switching between influences and styles, the somewhat dishevelled approach also reminding of another Canadian auteur, Devin Townsend. The classic thrash audience should stay away from this as far as possible, but lovers of modern, schizophrenic metal complexities may as well find their new idols here. There’s room for more left-hand-path explorations for sure, the Universe hasn’t been mapped that extensively yet, and these Swiss pioneers seem like the most likely risers to this gargantuan challenge.