Upcoming Release: Hypnos
25 YEARS OF HYPNOS: The Blackcrow - STILL BURNING, STILL FIGHTING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o62GRSVNtjM
Twenty-five years. That’s how long it’s been since a Czech death metal band named Hypnos first crawled out of the underground like a corpse with a grudge. And now? They’re back, not with a bang, but with a jewel case, a 20-page booklet, and an album that sounds like a funeral procession made of steel.
Quarter of Century 1999-2024 isn’t just a live record. It’s a time capsule. A bloodstained scrapbook. You can hear every scream, every snare hit, every bassline that’s aged like good whiskey: bitter, deep, and oddly comforting.
The band’s still got their core: Bruno on bass and vocals (still growling like he’s arguing with God), Vlasa and Canni slicing through the mix with razor-wire riffs, and Sataroth behind the kit like a man who’s seen too many black masses. But the real surprise? Pegas back on drums for four tracks. The original founder. The ghost in the machine. His presence is… well, ghostly. Like a memory you don’t want to forget.
And then there’s Igorr Hubík on guitar for two songs. Yes, that Igorr. From Root. From old Hypnos. He doesn’t play like a guest; he plays like he never left. That moment on “Crystal Purity of Treachery” when the riff twists like a serpent in a cathedral? That’s not nostalgia. That’s continuity.
Musically, this is classic Hypnos: relentless, ritualistic, built on the bones of Morbid Angel, early Behemoth, and the kind of European doom that makes you feel like you’re walking through a crypt at midnight. They’ve aged with the sound. Not louder. Not faster. Just… heavier. More deliberate. Less about chaos, more about meaning.
Bruno’s voice? Still a weapon. Still venomous. Still quoting his own book Revoltikon without even trying. (“In Blood We Trust”, yeah, we get it, brother.)
This isn’t some tired anniversary gimmick. No re-recorded demos. No cheap nostalgia. This is raw, live energy captured mid-scream. A band that’s played 500 shows across Europe, from Brutal Assault to Summer Breeze, still has fire in its belly. Even if the fire’s now slightly smoky, slightly weary, slightly wise.
It’s rare to see a band survive 25 years in extreme metal and still sound like they mean it. Hypnos didn’t just survive, they evolved. They didn’t become a legend. They became a legacy.
So go ahead. Press play. Let the white crow rise.
The album drops on September 15th.
Commentaires