HYPNOS 69

Electric guitar fans, throw yourself on this cake !

Contrary to the classification that was made when this group entered ProgArchives, Hypnos 69 is more in the Eclectic Prog, than in the Psychedelic Space Rock. In any case, this is what we can see when listening to "Legacy" where we find a very strong influence of King Crimson as in "An Aerial Architect" which smacks of "Picture Of A City" . From the opening track, the tone is set with long energetic guitar solos, flute, sax interspersed with quieter passages and a song that is not unlike the voice of Mick Rogers (singer and guitarist of the Manfred Mann's Earth Band). The suite alternates between the influences of the first Pink Floyd "The Sad Destiny We Lament" or "My Journey To The Stars" and King Crimson. But the centerpiece of the album is (as the name suggests!) "The Great Work". A long series of 18 minutes where melotrons and guitars worthy of R. Fripp compete in ardor with the sax and the flute. A masterpiece of Prog Symphonique where a demented crescendo plunges into a smooth finale! Hey, is it already over? Damn ! 72 minutes that pass like a treat ... for those who will not be put off by long guitar solos.

With its superb cover, this album deserves its five stars, even if some will regret the lack of originality of the whole. So what ? Do we have to create original music at all costs? Is it really still possible, by the way? The question remains.

Why did Hypnos 69 stop after this gem ?

My first musical encounter with this Belgian formation was during the interesting Dutch Symforce II Festival in 2008 (organized by Belgian proghead #1 John Bollenberg, unfortunately only 3 editions). Hypnos 69 presented their new (4th) album entitled The Eclectic Measure, in fact their final effort because the band was on the brink of calling it a day. But due to the many positive reactions on their performance and the sales from their albums during that Symforce II Festival, Hypnos 69 decided to continue making progrock and in 2009 the band released this album entitled Legacy. Unfortunately it turned out to be their swansong.

On this fifth CD Hypnos 69 starts with the epic Requiem - For A Dying Creed (around 18 minutes. First a fluent hrythm with sumptuous Hammond organ, fiery guitar runs and strong, a bit raw vocals. Then lots of shifting moods, including powerful saxophone and moving guitar with lush Mellotron. And finally a splendid conclusion featuring a Cry Baby wah-wah drenched guitar solo with awesome Mellotron violins, what a great start! Then five alternating tracks.

King Crimson inspired with propulsive guitar and saxophone in An Aerial Architect.

Dreamy with bluesy guitar and Hammond organ in My Journey To The Stars.

Psychedelic with majestic Mellotron choirs in The Sad Destiny We Lament.

Bombastic and pure rock with swinging saxophone and biting wah-wah guitar in The Empty Hourglass.

Pretty experimental with an avant-garde saxophone sound in Jerusalem.

And finally another epic composition entiled The Great Work (around 18 minutes), a lot happens.

Mellow with Mellotron violins and bluesy guitar to compelling bombastic with Hammond.

Captivating King Crimson-like interplay between Mellotron violins and propulsive electric guitar.

Along parts with flute and saxophone, very interesting but also a bit complex.

To me this album sounds in the vein of their previous effort, but a bit more adventurous, one to discover!

Hypnos keep one foot in the present and one foot in the incense-clouded psychedelic past on Legacy, which includes extensive influence from more or less every classic prog band which took a significant influence from the psychedelic age and some more obscure ones besides. (For instance, I could swear that buried in the musical morass of the Empty Hourglass I caught lead vocalist Steve Houtmeyers hitting a stentorian tone reminiscent of Fantasy's Howard Werth, whilst slipping in a lead guitar melody reminiscent of The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) by Yes.)

The peak of the album is the epic closing track, the magnificent The Great Work, the parts of which are named after the different stages that alchemical lore describes for the production of the Philosopher's Stone - and in this morass of space, prog, and psychedelic influences, with Steven Marx tooting up an absolute storm on saxophone that wouldn't go amiss on one of Van der Graaf Generator's wilder efforts, Hypnos 69 turn their diverse ingredients into gold.

Hypnos 69 is a Belgian avant-garde rock band. Founded in 1994, Hypnos 69 has released five albums (including a remake), two EPs and a live show. Hypnos in the name of the team is Hypnos in charge of sleep and subconsciousness among Greek gods, and 69 is the meaning of balance and stability (maybe this is also the characteristics of band music). When I listened again recently, I discovered that it had a lot of creative ideas and backgrounds that could not be ignored. Therefore, I re-examined its lyrics and related notes in the lyrics book and found some mistakes. The opening song had some ambiguous interpretations. After understanding the overall concept of the album, it was discovered that it should be explained in the other direction. The latter song later discovered that it was originally referring to the four steps of alchemy. It was very rewarding to go to the wiki! (ps, recently researching Jung, discovered that Jung's late enthusiasm for alchemy was reminiscent of late Newtonians who also loved occultism. Is it natural that paranormalism is the last thing that scientists are obsessed with? Because science always explains everything. As soon as the explanation is finished, then life has decided and lost its meaning. Therefore, we need to find some mysterious things to reconstruct our present value.

1.Requiem (for a Dying Creed) Looking at the concept of "heritage" around the entire profession, the title of this song is "Requiem for a faith that will be dead for a line". This belief transcends the commonplace, but it is not understood and supported by the world, hence the name " Will die, meaning shaky. In the lyrics, this conviction is turned into an anthropomorphous "her". At the beginning of life, she longed for the future (representing the concept of advancement, that is, the legacy). However, our fate seems to be doomed and cannot be changed. She walks alone. On the dangerous road to exploitation, it soon fell and disappeared. But although we were shaped in a uniform way (losing personality), we were still attracted by her advanced spirit (charm). But this belief and her legacy have been hidden. One day it will soar and awaken people's inner being. So in her heart and inheritance, we aim for this splendid scene. Although she is dead, her legacy is It is revealed that she is the seeker of truth and the source of youth. Her legacy is truth, and what we usually see is an illusion. For this reason, I made a requiem and the stars shine around her legacy.

2.The Aerial Architect In the lyrics, the lyrics written in this song refer to some of Newton's words. Yes, that's Newton who wrote the "Philosophical Principles of Natural Philosophy." The song title "Air Architect" seems to refer to the God who built everything? Or refer to Newton himself? In short, Newton, as a representative of the spiritual leaders of mankind, not only thinks and questions, he inherits inheritance, but also creates inheritance. Of course, the last sentence, "Respect for great works," is the last song of the album, "the great work."

3.My Journey to the Stars The meaning of the song is relatively simple. The Shangri-La Holy Land represents the truth. It is actually a group of stars. I am on the journey to the stars. I have abandon the chaos, greet endless joy, and go home to explore the truth.

4.The Sad Destiny We Lament This song roughly states that people have abandoned their beliefs for various reasons. This story is staged and reincarnation time after time. We can only finally lament our sadness and destiny (but it is self-abortion, isn't it?). We mourn the dream. , and I long to wash away all this. It's just that the phrase "Inside my Insight" doesn't quite understand what it means, but it's time to think about it again (when it might be just rhyme).

5.The Empty Hourglass This song is more difficult to explain, as if to say that the birth of a conceited day, he has a goal but very confused, he can cross the dimension, foresee the future, but in the end it said "time is running out." In the sentence "In seven tensions", I understood the "superstring and membrane theory" in physics. I believe that this day's favored man can cross the membrane of the universe.

6.Jerusalem The purpose of this song is to say a great and lonely person (always sailing the world and saving the world alone). The song says that he comes with the truth, but it also comes with a yoke (because there is a rise of the truth, there will be fools against it.) ). Jerusalem is both heaven and hell, so it was later said, "Are we exempted?" Does this mean Jesus? After all, Jesus was conspired by the chief of Jerusalem to let Judah kill.

7.The Great Work Before the official lyrics, keep repeating these words: That which is below underlying to that which is Above, and that which is is opposite corresponds to that which is Below, to achieve the miracle of the One Thing. - Hermes Trismegistus In the following is equivalent to the above, in the above equivalent to the following, to complete the miracle of One Thing. - Hermes Tris Mogis Hermes is one of the twelve main gods in Greece and is a powerful embodiment of the natural world. Tris Mogis is the Tooth of the Egyptian gods, the god of wisdom and the moon god. In Hellenized Egypt, the Greeks discovered that their deity, Hermes, was exactly the same as the Egyptian deity, and the two deities were then worshipped together. What does One Thing mean? I think it means the great work - The Great Work. In addition, according to a more important clue in the lyrics, there are several explanations under the heading: 1.Nigredo: corruption, dissolution, individuation (darkness: corruption, dissolution, individualization) 2.Albedo: purification, burnout of impurity; the Moon, female (whitening: purification, burning impurities; moon, female) 3.Citrinitas: spiritualisation, enlightenment; the Sun, male (Huanghua: spirit, enlightenment; sun, male) 4.Rubedo: unification of Man with God and the Limited with the Unlimited (Redness: Unity of man and God, unity of finite and infinite) This is obviously the four steps taken from alchemy - Magnum opus (Latin The Great Work)! Although it began as a four-step process of describing alchemy or refining the Philosopher's Stone (blackening → whitening → yellowing → redness), it has been widely used to describe the spiritual transformation of humans through the interpretation and development of Ringier. , is a symbol that symbolizes the human spirit has undergone a qualitative change and leap! The great works have gone through four steps: dissolve and impart individuality → purification → spirituality and enlightenment of civilization → the unity of man and God. Interestingly, the band thinks that purification is responsible for women, and that spirituality and rationalization are the responsibility of men. In the end, a perfect harmony and unity, that is, two sentences that are repeatedly spoken: the above corresponds to the following, and the following corresponds to the above. This is obviously a great harmony between heaven and earth! However, I said "ha ha ha" that the meaning of the song is not the same, and the great work eventually became a legacy (even no one inherited). The song first states that the great soul is floating above and illuminates everything below. He is the creator of God. However, because of human misdeeds, the Creator eventually gave up the world. He took back his heritage and let people wake up from the dream. He still did not forget to make a rumor (prophecy)?an ancient philosophy. But it was guided by the serpents of Eden, and theology had long gone astray and entered the final error. This outcome is undoubtedly related to the theme of the first song: Requiem, the requiem for the God who gave up the world (and the human spiritual leader represented by Newton). The song's melody is still quoted in this song, which is a summarization of the theme of the entire post-Legacy heritage. In this way, one can probably understand the meaning of the cover: the personification of the human spirit (the magic stone that is smelted out) and the personification of "He" is in a pool of blood. He is abandoned by man and no one inherits his inheritance, and humans But in the wrong direction of the serpent of the Garden of Eden, he looked upon the truth. This is a tragic kernel album, and I think that any person who is ahead of us will always want to say a scorn to the world: ?? I share my Prophecies unto a world that I forsake

For this cover, the band's bandcamp has a description: Legacy: Tells the tale of the Apple of Eden, the Philosophers Stone, the Egyptian mfkt, or the Biblical Manna and how it got lost on the Dark Rivers of Time. Symbolic for this journey are the writings of Isaac Newton and the intriguing insight he had on The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. The artwork by Italian graphic artists Malleus illustrates the concept of the Apple and the Snake of Eden, the oldest reference to Hermeticism and ancient Alchemy and our legacy of a higher knowledge.

This is the latest album from Belgium's HYPNOS 69 and for me it's a big step up from their previous record "The Eclectic Measure". The main issue I had with the previous album was the vocals, i'm just not a fan of the tone of them when he sings with passion. And while this issue had an influence on my rating for that one, I feel they've upped their game in a major way here making this a solid four star albums despite some perceived flaws by yours truly. I agree with Hugues that they've changed their sound somewhat to more of a KING CRIMSON flavour circa "In The Court Of The Crimson King" / "Islands" sound with the prominant sax and mellotron at times. So yes "Legacy" is an apt title for this recording. This is an almost 73 minute album yet the time flies by when listening, that says a lot.

Things get started with the almost 18 minute opener called "Requiem(For A Dying Creed)". It hits the ground running and this continues for almost 2 minutes when it settles down and vocals join in. So much going on here as the bass, organ, guitar and mellotron impress. It settles back even more 4 1/2 minutes in with clarinet helping out. Great section before 7 minutes with sampled spoken words then it kicks in hard with some ripping sax. The guitar takes over then themes begin to be repeated starting around 10 minutes. Love the guitar solo after 16 minutes that goes on to the end. Nice! "An Aerial Architect" reminds me of "21st Century Schizoid Man" for almost a minute with the heaviness and sax, then it settles down with vocals. This is a pretty good sax driven tune people and check out the sound just after 5 minutes. "My Journey To The Stars" has this intricate and relaxed sound as reserved vocals join in. Clarinet replaces the vocals before 2 minutes and we get some floating organ as well. A tasteful guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in that becomes passionate as it plays out. I like the spacey final minute.

"The Sad Destiny We Lament" has a PINK FLOYD vibe with those melancholic synths. Vocals join in as well in this psychedelic beauty. "The Empty Hourglass" is almost 11 minutes in length and one of my favourites. It opens with some excellent drum work as the guitar and organ join in and light it up early on. Vocals and sax take over as it settles back some. I like the calm with sax after 3 minutes as it trips along. Mellotron 6 minutes in as the guitar starts to solo. Vocals follow then a big finish. "Jerusalem" has a relaxed sound to it with clarinet and vocals. Check out the sax later on as the sound turns heavier. "The Great Work" ends it and this is the 18 1/2 minute closer. This is slow moving and beautiful with spacey keys, subtle guitar notes and plenty of mellotron. Words speak out of the floating soundscape. Drums before 3 1/2 minutes and the guitar becomes more passionate, organ too. It kicks in harder after 5 minutes, amazing! It settles down again then a guitar solo arrives 9 1/2 minutes in followed by sax a minute later. The sax is insane 12 1/2 minutes in then mellotron arrives a minute later. A calm arrives after 15 minutes to the end.

Yes this one grew on me as my first listen didn't go all that well. I'm still not big on the vocals but this is easily 4 stars despite them.

A Belgian act from Diest, originally started as Starfish back in 1994, found by guitarist/singer Steve Houtmeyers, bassist/keyboardist Tom Vanlaer and drummer Dave Houtmeyers.The next year they changed their name to Hypnos 69 and debuted in 2000 with a 10'' vinyl EP, followed two years later by the full-length work ''Timeline traveller''.The next year, with new member Steven Marx on sax and keyboards, they released ''Promise of a new moon'', both albums were issued on Rocknrollradio and are good examples of Heavy/Psychedelic Rock.Hypnos 69 then signed with the German record label ElektroHasch and in 2004 comes the third album of the group ''The intrigue of perception'', recorded in April/May 2004 at Artsound Studio in Houthalen.

On this third work Hypnos 69 had fully transformed to a Heavy/Psych/Prog Rock group, splitting their sound between modern Prog ala PORCUPINE TREE and vintage inspirations, including KING CRIMSON, MARSUPILAMI and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR.Their sound still included lots of abstract, jamming parts with a strong psychedelic flavor, but their horizons had fully opened with the addition of Steven Marx, who strengthened their sound with his competitive keyboard work and his frenetic sax introductions.Low tempo jamming solos, jazzy vibes and hypnotic grooves are basic ingredients of their music, which is now also led by huge Mellotron waves, smooth electric pianos and haunting sax lines similar to DAVID JACKSON's work or even DIDIER MALHERBE's of GONG fame.This way Hypnos 69's musicianship obtains an obscure, slightly dark and fairly adventurous contrast with plenty of instrumental madness contained.These elements appear mostly in the longer tracks, which alternate between narcotic moves and heavier tones, the shorter ones are straighter, mostly with powerful guitar parts, even reminding a bit of KANSAS or URIAH HEEP'S more accesible material.However you shouldn't get fooled by the length of the last track ''Absent Friends'', which lasts for about 5 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of silence, in a really dull choice by the group.

File along other Retro-influenced Psych/Prog groups like ASTRA, DIAGONAL or CRANIUM PIE.And definitely interesting music for most of the way.Recommened.

A great collection of retro rock with prog qualities in the vein of Procul Harum, Robin Trower, Uriah Heep, Nektar, Grand Funk, Blind Faith, Traffic, Utopia, and even Camel and Pink Floyd. Impeccable sound reproduction, stellar drumming and guitar leads and compositional and lots of 'borrowed' riffs/melody lines from classic rock and prog rock songs. This album is exciting and never dull, if a bit familiar. For example: imagine Traffic and post-Sinfield/Lake/Giles KCrimson jamming to Yes' "The Fish" "schindleria praematurus" vocal riff: you get "The Empty Hourglass" (9/10). Or how 'bout Fripp/Eno and Jethro Tull playing with Pink Floyd on their 1974 Dark Side of the Moon tour: you get "The Great Work" (8/10). Or Blind Faith playing on stage with Supertramp and Nektar on the "Journey to the Centre of the Eye" album tour: you get "Requiem (for a Dying Creed)" (9/10). Anyway, you get my drift. The bottom line is that this is excellent music for listening--especially for bringing you back to about 1972 or 3--yet all original music with its own charm and clever hooks. Well composed, well performed, excellent production--well done, Hypnos 69!

4.5 stars. Not sure if this is a true masterpiece--though it is reminiscent of many masters of the 1970s. 4.5 stars for now! We'll see in five years how memorable much less essential this one is.

Fifth album from this excellent Flemish quartet, they managed to better their already superb Eclectic Measure released two years earlier. Coming with an outstanding and very remarkable (as in... you can't possibly miss with its sparkling red-orange colours) psych/prog artwork that fits quite well the sonic content of the album, Legacy is an exciting almost classic prog, but given its decade of birth, we shall call it retro-prog, without it being derogatory in any sense, way, shape or form. Strangely enough, despite loads of guitar heroics, it's not mentioned that Brother Steve plays it (or anyone else for that matter) and the other Steve (Marks is now not only playing wind instruments, but seems tio take care of most of the keyboard parts

Sooooo H69 offers a pretty enthusiasting brand of retro/classic prog rock, with all of the very flattering sounds of that magic decade, including some vintage trons, Moog, Rhodes, sax, flutes and also (and unfortunately-still) those trafficked vocals through some filters and effects, which in the long run become slightly irritating. The band's sound is still quite influenced by Crimson and Anekdoten, but this time much more by Fripp's cohorts (more the Court to Islands era) than on the previous album, but not being too derivative. It would be easy to point out the opening and closing suites as the highlights of the album (and they are), but there is more to it than that. All of the tracks are of a good level, if not Jerusalem being a tad weaker.

Opening on 18-mins+rapid fire heavy motif, the 3-movement Requiem suite is a now-typical H69 track, with plenty of breaks and tempo changes, excellent interplay between all. Indeed the almost 18-mins closing ambitious (look at the movements' titles) "Great Work" suite is almost perfect in its progression from a quiet slow start, gradually moving and strengthening (via some wild guitar soli) into a solid rocker with some very entertaining moments and ending up into a grandiose finale, but not before having induce down your spine a few chills and tingles, before heading out ever so quietly.

Well from the more accessible prog from Belgium (this means not counting Aranis or Univers Zero), it appears that the match is quite close between Madelgaire's (Im)Patience and Hypnos' Legacy, but I think the latter edges out the competition, mostly because it's flawless.

Hypnos 69 are a new band for me, but what a way to be introduced......Legacy is an outstanding mix of classic prog and contemporary stoner rock. I'm not prone to lavishly dishing out 5 stars, but I have no problem in this case. Legacy is a fantastic blend of stunning guitar riffs, beautiful synth melodies, and thoughtful and well delivered lyrics (in English - a plus for the non-Belgian fans). I'm not a huge fan of the sax, but even this instrument contributes to a sound that is reminiscent of 70's classic prog, masterfully produced and recorded. It is hard to seperate any one track from the 7 offered, but if I was to choose just one for my iPod, it would be The Sad Destiny We Lament . A truly outstanding album of 2010.

How could I have missed out on a band from my own country that lists Anekdoten and Motorpsycho amongst their favorite current bands? With a sound that brings the spirit of early Floyd, Sabbath and Crimson back to life, this album has simply been written just for me.

I don't know if there's a recipe to make the glory of the early 70s come alive again, but getting the sound right is sure one of the main ingredients. And that is exactly what Hypnos 69 achieved here. Just like Diagonal and Astra, the band combines psych-progressive songwriting with a vintage 70s sound that is natural, dynamic, rocking and that respects the true sound of all instruments. No studio tricks, no proTools cut-and paste, no synthetics, no plastic, no fake. The list of instruments is impressive: an array of drum and percussion, bass, guitars, effects, organs, mellotron, saxophone, Hammond,... Luckily not all at once but spread nicely over the plus 72 minute album length.

Another secret to make 'retro' work is to avoid being the umpteenth Genesis or Yes clone. A better approach is to combine different styles into a new mix that - even if derivative - still has a personality of its own. Some of the influences on Legacy are 1970-era Crimson, early 70s hard rock, jazz-rock, Ozzy-vocals, some Floyd, Yes and even some BJH alike vocal harmonies. Hypnos 69 have a history as a stoner band and there are still traces of that in the sound, but the songwriting has become fully Prog, offering long composed suites with spacey instrumental breaks and concise improvisations. It is fun spotting the occasional musical quotes from other bands, from King Crimson for instance (there's an echo of Indoor Games on An Aerial Architect) and from Yes (melodies from The Fish at 3.18 into The Empty Hourglass). My symphonic knowledge is limited to the mainstream bands so there may be more...

The album amply demonstrates that you don't have to excel in originality and innovation to make a worthy addition to today's music. Just like Diagonal and Astra before them, Hypnos 69 have forged their various vintage influences into a remarkable trip back to 1970. 4.5 stars