THE ECLECTIC MEASURE

During the second edition of the Dutch Symforce Festival this weekend I enjoyed the gigs by Magic Pie, The Watch and Alquin but only one band really blew me away, the Belgian formation Hypnos 69, what a dynamics and enthousiasm. Soon after the concert I rushed towards the Hypnos 69 'stand' and bought their latest effort entitled The Eclectic Measure. Initially Hypnos 69 has disbanded but due to the many positive reactions on their latest album the band decided to re-unite, we should be glad about that and I am gonna tell you why.

Listening to The Eclectic Measure I notice obvious hints of the pivotal first King Crimson album (from dreamy with Mellotron to violent with propulsive interplay, fiery guitar and powerful saxophone), the track Ominous (But Fooled Before) even sounds like a variation on 21st Century Schizoid Man but the blend of Hammond organ, violin-Mellotron and Glockenspiel gives this song a special flavor. During my first listening session Hypnos 69 their sound reminded me not only of KC but more and more of (King Crimson inspired) Swedish formation Anekdoten because of the tension between mellow, compelling and violent interludes, the intense vocals, the fiery guitarwork, the propulsive rhythm-section and the frequent use of the Mellotron. But these are subjective musical observations, I would like to emphasize that Hypnos 69 delivers very pleasant and varied, often compelling and dynamic progrock. On this CD we can enjoy 10 strong and varied compositions: between propulsive and compelling with wonderful Hammond and Mellotron waves and splendid guitar (from bluesy to Cry Baby wah-wah drenched guitar solos) in the alternating titletrack, bombastic with a heavy rhythm-section, powerful saxophone, fiery guitar and a lush Hammond organ sound in The Antagonist, warm acoustic guitar and vocals, majestic violin-Mellotron and a Lucky Man-like synthesizer solo in Halfway To The Stars, from dreamy and compelling to bombastic with a surprising piece of flamenco guitar and howling electric guitar in the exciting The Point Of No Return and a great build-up and grand finale in the mindblowing final song Deus Ex Machina, from dreamy with Fender Rhodes electric piano and spacey slide guitar to breathtaking interplay between sensitive electric guitar and violin-Mellotron, goose bumps!

I am very glad that I was able to visit the Hypnos 69 gig, otherwise I still would have been unaware of this outstanding Belgian band that has made captivating progrock on their fourth album, highly recommended to King Crimson and Anekdoten fans and Heavy Prog aficonados!

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