Hypnos ‎- The Whitecrow CD

Hypnos ‎- The Whitecrow CD
$5.00

Though they have been around for nearly 20 years, Czech Republic quartet Hypnos are a fairly unknown entity to most people outside of Eastern/Central Europe – myself included.

The album has something of a Native American vibe to it from the mystical narrations – courtesy of Master frontman and now Czech resident Paul Speckmann – about “healing the people from their decadence” and whatnot, spoken word passages, folksy interludes, symbolism and artwork – at least to these American ears/eyes. Yet even though it has nothing to do with early American lore – The Whitecrow’s storyline, from what I can gather, was inspired by the plague doctors of the Middle Ages – the embellishments and imagery make for a compelling work when combined with the band’s epic blackened death metal.

Hypnos never disguise there conceptual inclinations here, with the aforementioned narration and assorted intros and outros making for obvious connective tissue and the band providing lots of dramatic rises and falls as the story moves along. And while there is a deliberate, even painstaking, feel in the execution, uptempo tracks like “Sin Collector” and “Der Mordschlag” and the simmering groove of “About Trust” that is flavored by a choral flourish help keep things moving.

The Whitecrow is pretty evocative, engrossing and sufficiently corrosive stuff. - Metal Rules