#10: The Hirsch Effekt - Holon : Agnosie#2 for 2015
I've had a hard time really finding any mathcore that worked for me; usually it's just too angry or too relentlessly heavy, too focused on doing technical crazy stuff that ends up sounding like gibberish to the listener. So what did this band do to make it work? Well, one, the album's not relentlessly heavy; three of the ten main tracks aren't even metal, and nearly every track has some calmer moments. Two, add a focus on melody. There are some crazy breakdown-type bits here, but just as many guitar leads to balanced them out. Three, CRAZY GOOD FLOW.
Seriously, more than anything else, I'd use this album as an example of how to construct an album that flows well and feels both really cohesive and really diverse. Simurgh builds up nicely to a heavier sound instead of dumping you in blind. Jayus is generally pretty heavy but also straightforward and not that technical. Agnoise is probably the most "standard" mathcore track, but you're warmed up for it by now. Chelicera provides a brief breather between two more intense tracks. Bezoar goes even further into madness, but ends by cooling down some and transitioning smoothly into the next track. After the assault of the previous three tracks, Tombeau provides a straightforward and gorgeous softer moment. Emphysema starts off quiet but builds up to a more intense, somewhat technical sound by the end. Defaetist provides another simple breather between two of the heavier tracks. Fixum really gets back into the swing of things, maybe the most technical track on the album, though not the heaviest. After its insanity, Athesie provides another nice cooldown, though it has some punch to it as well. Tischje bridges the gap between the bright Athesie and the crushing Dysgeusie by being quiet but unsettling. Dysgeusie is one brief shot of manic energy before the finale. Cotard has a strong air of finality to it and a reprise of Simurgh to close things out. Really, even without diving into the songs themselves, this album would already be a work of art for its flow and diversity alone; no two tracks are that similar, but the whole ride feels smooth as butter.
Thankfully, the quality doesn't end there; yes, of course, the songs themselves are all pretty great. I think I'll start out with all the small, weird oddities this album has, the elements that aren't "standard".
There's the brass ensembles on several tracks; playing the main motif of Simurgh as well as its reprise on Cotard, some horns adding to a heavy moment at 2:50 of Agnosie, as well as providing some unsettling melodies later on; and some more brass on the second chorus of Emphysema.
There's some strings presence as well; not gratuitous, but present enough to highlight some specific moments. The buildup into the second chorus of Agnosie has some nice wailing violins, there's the outro of Bezoar with a symphonic reprise of the chorus, and there's a pretty string passage near the end of Tombeau.
The piano and keyboards, as well, show up enough to make note of. There's, of course, the ambient intro of Simurgh, there's what sounds like someone banging on a piano near the end of Jayus, there's the entire of Tombeau, and there's the bright synth of Athesie that gives it a poppy vibe.
Another thing worth highlighting is the choruses to most of these songs; despite all the lyrics being in German and thus incomprehensible to me, they tend to be pretty damn catchy and usually pretty powerful as well. Agnosie has a straightforward, driving chorus, Bezoar has its manic, highly melodic and obscenely catchy chorus, Emphysema has a booming and triumphant, sort of laid-back chorus, Fixum has another straightforward chorus in the midst of its chaos, some nice vocal harmonies going on, Athesie has a punchy and climactic chorus with great guitar work, and Cotard has just a gorgeous and triumphant chorus, bright melodic guitar lines playing under some great vocal melodies.
Anyways, with that all out of the way, diving in to the real meat of the album: its musicianship. One thing I really like about this album is how clearly everything comes through. It's also weird because I find slight fault with how thin the guitar tone can sound sometimes; any single-note riffs often tend to be not that heavy, no matter how heavy they try to be. Other than that though the album's production is great, especially like how well-mixed the bass is, always plenty audible but not drowning anything out. But the point is, it's really easy to listen to and enjoy all the instrumentation.
Which is good, since it's generally pretty stellar. The bass gets a lot of cool moments; accentuating the bass drum at 3:40 of Agnosie, helping to drive the jagged outro groove of the same song, providing a solid backing to the intro guitar solo of Bezoar, and a great bass solo during the jazzy break of the same, a number of nice, rhythmic basslines through Emphysema, throughout Fixum as well, driving a frantic moment near the intro, a great groove at 1:30, the huge thick tone at 3:05, a really cool solo during the break at 4:25, the bass really owns this song especially. There's just a ton of cool moments throughout though, more than I can even remember.
The same goes for the drums, a nice variation on the different styles while often having a technical edge. There's the marching beat of Simurgh, the booming intro of Jayus, the upbeat, punky beats and twisted rhythms of Agnosie, the death metal intensity of Bezoar along with some wacky rhythms and the manic outro bits, the energy of the break of Emphysema, the rhythmic synchronizations of Fixum as well as the intense build up to the final chorus, the addictive grooves of Athesie, the unfiltered energy of Dysgeusie, and the constant driving feel of the drums throughout Cotard.
As with a lot of metal albums, though, the star of the album is the guitar work. Sometimes as simple as the straightforward chords of Emphysema and Dysgeusie. Often playing some really jagged riffs; Agnosie, Bezoar, and Fixum are especially loaded with these. Only a few solos; one shreddy one at the start and one jazzy one during the middle of Bezoar, as well as a really chill melodic solo in Athesie. A lot more noodly guitar lines than just those, though; the intro of Jayus, the chorus of Bezoar, the first main riff of Emphysema, and a ton in Cotard, the verses and choruses, the buildup to the outro especially. Some straightforward crushing chords,, usually accompanying a chorus. Notably the first vocal bit of Bezoar has an almost black metal feel to it, between the guitar, drums, and vocals. And some really sludgy/heavy riffs. The slower outro of Agnosie, the crushing ending of Dysgeusie, and a few moments in the middle of Cotard. Even a few twangy guitar lines; one prevalent throughout a lot of Agonsie, one that punctuates a number of bars in Bezoar, and a tiny moment at 3:30 of Fixum. It's just, really diverse and constantly interesting, really unlikely to have the same kind of playing for multiple passages in a row.
The vocals, as well. The cleans are generally really quite good and melodic, enough power and emotive presence behind them to work for me, even if I don't understand the lyrics. The harsh vocals are pretty standard metalcore kind of vocals, don't really dislike them nor am I particularly into them, but they work for the music quite well, adding a lot of intensity to some of the heavier moments.
Really though, it's impressive how much of a joy this album is to listen to front-to-back, and even on a song-by-song basis, a lot of great tunes with only a few weaker ones, and even the worst song here is still solid enough. As previously said, this is probably one of the best-flowing albums I've ever heard, and it hasn't lost its luster on repeated listens due to how much there is going on in the tracks here, the diversity and creativity are great. Maybe not the heaviest, most complex or mind-bending, or angriest mathcore out there, but probably the mathcore that appeals to me the most. Really strong album.
Favorite Tracks: Cotard, Athesie, Bezoar, Fixum, Emphysema, Tombeau
Least Favorite Track: Dysgeusie
8.75/10DTF Addendum: I just, I can't get over how good this album's structure and flow are. Everything just fits into place perfectly. I'd probably like this a fair bit less if the track order was even a little different.
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