Hippotraktor - Annihilist Review
On Annihilist, Hippotraktor refine their djent, prog and post-metal sound, sharpening the songwriting without sacrificing its extremes.
From the off, it’s evident that Hippotraktor have released something special here. ‘I Breathe. I Am.’ pulls you into an immediate onslaught of heaviness that establishes you’re in good hands. The Belgian outfit keep the rhythms shifting beneath a wall of distorted guitars, with Stefan De Graef’s vocals crashing against them like waves against a cliff’s edge in a winter storm. That intensity continues into ‘Courageous Apathy’. These aren’t short songs, yet they never outstay their welcome. One second, there’s a break in the storm that allows you to come up for air, but De Graef’s shifts between clean singing and growling vocals mean the respite rarely lasts long.
There are few bands doing more interesting things with djent, prog and post-metal at the moment, and Hippotraktor’s technical skill is on full display. ‘Courageous Apathy’ crashes down with thunder before we’re thrust into the two previously released singles, ‘Builder of Eden’ and ‘Oblivion Walker’. The former features a guest appearance from former The Ocean vocalist Loïc Rossetti, adding another voice to the intensity. ‘Builder of Eden’ assaults the senses at every turn, driven by a rhythmic weight that never quite settles. Elsewhere, particularly on ‘Everything is Permissible’, the band dip into Karnivool territory. Their ability to move between restraint and outright force keeps these songs varied, even when the heaviness threatens to swallow everything.
The guitars do much of the storytelling here, although the lyrics remain an important part of the album. Its arrangements build on contrast, allowing moments of emotional tenderness to emerge between the heavier passages. It’s raw and rugged, but carefully choreographed too. Hippotraktor make meticulously constructed songs sound as though they might come apart at any moment, and that tension carries through to ‘A Different Now’, which brings the album to a biting, memorable finale.
The songwriting is more concise than on Meridian and Stasis, with a stronger sense of focus. ‘I Breathe. I Am.’ is the most Tool-esque song of the lot and clocks in at six minutes, though it feels considerably quicker when you’re listening. This is one of the best metal bands on the circuit refining their approach, with the groovy, riff-heavy ‘Builder of Eden’ a particular highlight. It’s a barnstormer of a record, touching on the melodic sensibilities of Leprous before a closing track that gives its cinematic ambition a fitting final act. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait three years for the next one.