WHOLE is a Berlin based duo made up of Thomas Schernikau (Forced to Mode, Forced Movement) and Alexander Leonard Donat (Vlimmer, Fir Cone Children). They released their debut album Bias in 2018 and now they have a new album in the form of HYDRA. I originally listened to this a few months back but due to not being in the happiest place I found it a bit too depressing. It turns out mood can affect enjoyment of things as giving it a second listen the other week I realised it was nowhere near as despondent as my memories had me believe.
The ten track album has a strong start with 'Beast', a four and a half minute eighties sounding song that gave me Timothy Dalton era James Bond vibes. Rather than be an anomaly, nearly every track on HYDRA was a good one with an interesting mix of styles over the forty seven minute runtime. There are dour sounds but these always include great sounding music at the same time. 'Sudden Hydra' with its half sung/half spoken verses, the mournful 'Valson' and finisher 'Morricone' with its ending repeating line of "If we pushed a little farther" - all were enjoyable.
The sound throughout the album was never anything less than great to listen to, I liked how energetic some of these tracks became, often with a solid backing beat, such as the strong meaty one on 'Flood Marker', the satisfying electronic sound on 'Rip' and 'Ten Commandments' with its Muse-like grinding synth intro. Most unusual was 'Dead Deer', I loved the attention grabbing opening of repeated lines that leads into an almost rap style sound. Then there were 'I Am Your Shadow' and 'Flagstone', with the later tracks repeating lines of "The fear is creeping out, It keeps on growing" sounding effective.
I assumed I would enjoy HYDRA, anything Alexander Leonard Donat is a part of often is guaranteed for a good sound and an album that flows well from track to track. This one featured some good music that often had me humming along, worth a listen.
SCORE:
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