Hyponic Premiere “Zhu Mie Ling Ba” from New Album Qian Xingzhe
Hong Kong-based extreme atmospheric metallers Hyponic release their third album, Qián Xíngzhe, on Aug. 10 via Weird Truth Productions. Its title translating roughly to “The Former Monk,” it’s the first Hyponicrecord in 11 years and finds the long-running outfit pared down to just two members, guitarist/vocalist Wah and guitarist/vocalist/drummer Roy, but as one can hear in “Zhu Miè Líng Ba,” the time between outings hardly seems to have dulled the band’s drive toward deeply weighted doom, taking influence from death and black metal but crafting something spacious and consuming from it in an emotionally-charged ambient melancholy.
That’s about par for the course for Hyponic, whoever might be in the band. Their last record was 2005’s deathly The Noise of Time, and it followed a somewhat similar direction, but the time between seems to have led Hyponic toward an even more atmospheric focus, at least if “Zhu Miè Líng Ba” and the Qian Xingzhe title-track (which is also out on YouTube) are anything to go by. I haven’t heard the full album yet, so won’t comment on it as a whole, but 2016 marks their 20th year of existence — Roy is a founding member — they’ve toured mainland China and become known for the viciousness of their approach, so I’m not going to argue with what I’m hearing, particularly because it sounds like it’s about to eat me anyway.
Preorders are up now, so think of this as a teaser if you want, or at very least a heads up on Hyponic‘s wrenching bleakness in case you haven’t heard them before. Also, please note that the titles listed below are approximations. I was unable to get the original Chinese characters to show up in WordPress and even when translated, there were accent marks that weren’t going through. Refer to the preorder page to see it all as it’s meant to be, and please enjoy the track:
Hyponic (Hong Kong) – Qián xíngzhe (August 10th, 2016, Weird Truth Productions)
On their 20th anniversary, Hyponic from Hong Kong release their new album after a gap of over a decade. Titled ‘Qián xíngzhe’, the mysterious band venture into newer realms – exploring dark ambient sounds, atmospheric black metal bits and all out melancholy. The music here is like the darker form of Funeral Moth – the atmospheric bits sink deeper into the consciousness, causing an emotive purge of all the repressed negativities in life.
It’s a slow, ongoing process, like a soul-transferring ritual of sorts, taking place mentally using the medium of sound. Upon listening to the entire weird and unpredictable album, I can say with confidence that Hyponic are without parallels. It’s a unique expression in the genre of atmospheric/funeral/’extreme’ death/doom – if it can even be called any of that. Weird Truth Productions, the master in deciphering obscure doom, has unleashed another gem in the genre.
1. Qián xíngzhe 2. Zhu miè líng ba 3. Zuìhòu chénshu 4. Níng pi bù huí 5. Piaoliú 6. Intro