Red Harvest - HyBreed (1996)^{Release ID: 1716}

So here I am at the final part of Red Harvest's underground trilogy, before they became more popular with Cold Dark Matter. Some say going chronological when checking out a band's discography is one of the weaker methods because the earlier material before the famous era is often highly different. They may be correct, but HyBreed ended up being an exception to that rule. A newfound perfect favorite of mine as my industrial metal collection grows!

HyBreed shows that the band is no longer as speedy as they were in their debut album and part of their second album. The album is slow in a lot of songs, and the tempo stays the same in even the long 10-minute epics.

The short opening track "Mazturnation" is a fast yet mature track that I enjoy. "The Lone Walk" is a long epic in which the verses have a drum pattern and the chorus is more riff-focused. It just goes on throughout those 10 minutes, and there's never anything bad about that at all! Despite being a bit repetitive, that's the kind of repetition that appeals to me. This band can be catchy while only having one d*mn idea. It's quite brilliant that the band can show talent from just one or two riffs! GENIUS!!! Yeah, that chorus is quite epic along with the verse drum pattern. The other fast track "Mutant" bounces through great guitar riffing and drum kicks.

Another track, "After All..." has a haunting dark cellar vibe. "Ozrham" is almost 10 minutes of ambient instrumental. You might think I would get bored from that, but surprisingly I didn't! By the end, you soar through rain-stormy heights. "On Sacred Ground" starts slow and melodic in the riffing and beat, and continues that way throughout the song that is another one nearly 10 minutes long. However, having the last minute being an intro to the next track is a bit of a risk to take. But all in all, a true masterpiece track of melodic doom! "The Harder They Fall" is another superb bleak industrial metal track. It's amazing how my taste in modern metal developed from the metalcore of Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine into this genre.

"Underwater" has a bit of the slow yet progressive ambience Maudlin of the Well would later have. "Monumental" has a lot of that monument melody, and I love the splash cymbal used here. Another one of the best tracks of the album! There's still two more tracks left, starting with the 12-minute ambient track "In Deep", which is nothing special but still nice and soothing. "The Burning Wheel" is the righteous ending of this long trip. It's a heavier blast while not building actual speed. This can really fit in a live setting, and both new and longtime fans can look back at it in the decades following its release. Like now, perhaps?

All I'm gonna say is, no matter how perfect HyBreed is for me, some people might not like it due to its heavy repetition and lengthiness and think this could cause a dent in the genre. However, this album has the motherload of many things that solidify the melody and dark ambience of industrial metal/post-sludge. The simply structured songs can keep you hooked until the end. Any fan of Red Harvest and industrial metal should get it, and if you want to appreciate it as much as I do, it just takes patience!

Favorites: "Mazturnation", "The Lone Walk", "On Sacred Ground", "The Harder They Fall", "Monumental", "The Burning Wheel"

This is another really solid effort from these Norwegians who must be challenging The Amenta for the title of the most under-appreciated band in The Sphere. Unlike our previous Red Harvest feature release (2004's "Internal Punishment Programs"), "HyBreed" contains a significant Post-Metal influence on several of the more drawn-out tracks with Neurosis being the clear influence, particularly in the use of tribal drumming & repetition with long build-ups & crescendos. There are also a couple of 10+ minute ambient pieces included which are both of a high quality & break the tracklisting up nicely. We even get a fantastically doomy Gothic Metal song in the wonderful "On Sacred Ground" which draws upon Type O Negative & Tiamat for inspiration. There isn't a single track included that's not of a very high quality & there's more than enough variation to justify the very long 78 minutes run time. I've gotta ask the question, what the fuck have these guys done wrong because they should be comfortably sitting alongside the big names of the Industrial Metal tree.

For fans of Godflesh, Yerûšelem & Kill The Thrill.