Hacride - Amoeba
Listenable Records
Extreme Technical Metal
10 songs ()
Release year: 2007
Listenable Records
Reviewed by Crims

When members of a specific band have varying musical backgrounds the end result of the collaboration, by most respects, would be rather interesting. After all, if you bring to the table a Thrash, Death, and Black Metal background one would assume that the bands sound would incorporate elements from all the above. Well, one would assume, in France’s Hacride’s case, wrong. I’ve been listening to this release, entitled Amoeba, for the better part of two weeks in between spins of the new Kamelot and Cage. Normally I can pin-point the specific sound of a band without much difficulty, but this release offered so much variety and varied sounds and influences that while this is certainly not the best CD I’ve listened to of recent memory it certainly was interesting.

So where do we begin with this band? I should say first that the overall scope of the music is of the extreme variety. The music is generally technical with rhythm heavy breakdowns and odd time signatures. In between the spurts of aggression there are also acoustic breaks that generally have a flamenco vibe (but not always). Depending on what song you listen to the riffs are reminiscent of Opeth, Ram-Zet, and or Meshuggah. They tend to be heavy and occasionally go into the groove-laden melody progression of Opeth, or the technical cacophony of Meshuggah… all the while having quick chug-fests with technical rhythms as heard on any Ram-Zet release. The result is usually pretty good. There certainly were some interesting sounding riffs on here that due to the technical and off-beat rhythms somehow sounded unique despite taking the aforementioned bands of a basis. Meanwhile the vocals are usually screamed. There is a doubling effect used every now and then and the way the vocals play with the guitars I was reminded of both Strapping Young Lad and Ram-Zet. Clean vocals are occasionally used and they have as similar feel to Fear Factory. Despite the very minor usage of clean vocals the overall vocal experience is mostly one-dimensional. Granted, I typically don’t like screamed vocals, and this is actually one of the better uses, but considering how much the music changes and the variety found within, one would expect the vocals to be just as dynamic. This is just not the case here and that aspect was altogether disappointing. We mentioned acoustic breaks and they are found throughout the CD. Used in a similar sudden start and stop fashion that Opeth have employed for quite some time now, the acoustic breaks are never quite over indulged. It added some melody and atmosphere to the music and the flamenco vibe that was previously mentioned helps set it apart from Opeth. I felt the acoustic breaks were some of the most refreshing and well-used aspects of the music and they can heard in full-force on the song Zambra, which finds the band teaming up with an actual flamenco band who provide Spanish vocals on top of the regular vocals. I’ve got to say this was an awesome song and nothing else on the CD touched it. The melodies in the Spanish vocals were excellent and played perfectly while the song was wholly memorable. Occasionally memories of Sepultura’s Roots CD came to mind, the main difference being that this didn’t suck.

Given that this is considered extreme Metal the guitars have an appropriately heavy and Death Metal style production. The overall feeling of the song writing and song progression reminds me of a lot of many Progressive Metal bands and I suppose with the all the change-ups and technical aspects you may consider this Extreme Progressive Metal. Despite the Death Metal styled production to just about everything you won’t find any traditional Death Metal or Black Metal riffs for that matter, and instead you get a progressive sensibility to just about everything the band does musically. If Dream Theater played Extreme Metal and went with one-dimensional screamed vocals could this be the result? Probably not, but it perhaps gives you a vague but partly true reference point.

The main appeal of this CD is variation. Not one song sounds the same and with all the bands mentioned in this review creating a starting point for the bands sound you may get an idea about how they actually sound. However, to say this is a CD that has to be really heard rather than described would definitely be accurate. With any band of this nature the talent of the band is undeniable. I found them to be more immediate and aggressive than Opeth, more listenable than Meshuggah, and not as chaotic as Ram-Zet (who are even more varied). So who will like this then? Will fans of Opeth like this? How about fans of Meshuggah or even Strapping Young Lad? Due to the variation found within I can’t say for sure and once again you really need to listen to at least three or four songs to begin to even understand the scope of the CD. I’ll be honest here and basically come out and say I don’t like this style of Metal very much. I’ll take a straight-to-the-point traditional Metal CD any day over this “Extreme Progressive (or technical) Metal”. With that being said I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find this an interesting and challenging listen. Hacride has a lot to offer those who wish to give it the time of day but the constant change-ups and odd time signatures will immediately turn of those who prefer more-straight forward music. Don’t misunderstand though, I love Progressive Metal but most Progressive Metal bands have an excellent, dynamic, and talented vocalist adding extra layers of melody, atmosphere, and texture, where as here, given that the vocals are screamed, are everything but dynamic and we are left with just the music to digest. Is the music good enough then? It’s really going to depend on your tastes. The music is certainly varied, as has already been mentioned quite a few times; the musicianship is there; the transitions are sudden and unexpected; so if those are aspects of quality music in your opinion, then you’ll like this. Otherwise, you may want to avoid.

Killing Songs :
Perturbed, Zambra, Strength
Crims quoted 73 / 100
Other albums by Hacride that we have reviewed:
Hacride - Lazarus reviewed by Charles and quoted 79 / 100
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