Every comment I seen about this band starts off by comparing them to Esoteric, then quickly turning around and say that they’re not really that like Esoteric after all. Well, who else do you compare a funeral doom band with some psychedelic parts to? Ninety-nine percent of the death/doom bands out there are closer to My Dying Bride than Hyponic is to Esoteric, but nobody says anything because it’s just accepted by this point. The ambient part of the first song will definitely remind you of Epistemological Despondency, though. Luckily, and maybe a little surprisingly, Hyponic are actually very good, and even a bit original. They use a weird, ambient style of guitar playing instead of the predictable riffs a lot of funeral doom bands use, which puts them above all of the mediocrity out there. The last song is the strangest one and the best one; although it’s simple in the sense of not being “technical,” it sounds almost orchestrated as opposed to resembling normal guitar playing, and the drumming is eerie and almost ritualistic. That’s the kind of creativity that I seek out in this kind of music. Nobody seems to be able to make up their mind whether this thing is supposed to be an album or an EP; regardless, the relatively short length (just a hair over a half hour) is the only thing I’d remotely point out as a serious complaint, and even then, not really: better four relatively short tracks that stick out from one another a bit than a full disc that wears out its welcome. Thumbs up, recommended, etc.