Genre/Influences: Industrial, d’n’b, industrial-techno, industrial-trance, hard-core.

Background/Info: Hysteresis is back on track unleashing their 5^th full length album. After 2 albums released on Spectre, the Belgian duo from Antwerp has now already released their 3^rd album on Hands.

Content: I think there’s no better and appropriated title as “Hegemonia Cultural” to understand the versatility of this new work. Hysteresis composed a real sonic patchwork featuring mainly industrial influences, but still exploring other sonic paths like d’n’b, techno, trance, ethnical music, hard-core and even techno-body music. Every single track sounds like a new exploration into another influence. The industrial style appears to be the cement to bring all the influences together.

Nothing seems to be weird enough for Hysteresis to make a simple experiment. They use broken rhythms and next a pumping hard kick. You will hear some transcendental Eastern chants and then spooky, spoken samplings. They’ve put a classical baroque passage in one song and empower other cuts with hard guitar riffs. Some aggressive electronic sequences can be heard on another track while d’n’b loops regularly emerge at the surface.

+ + + : “Hegemonia Cultural” is a really weird piece of music, but behind this somewhat anarchistic –or should I say hysteric, writing is hiding an oiled machine of sound operators who clearly feel inspired and comfortable experimenting with all kind of influences. I was impressed by their somewhat industrial-ethnical opening part.

The final cut is a noticeable remix by their town mate Ah-Cama Sotz.

– – – : The album sometimes gives you the impression of a compilation and that’s for sure not an easy thing to imagine all tracks have been written by one and the same band. Diversity for sure is the keyword, but it’s maybe a bit too versatile.

Conclusion: Hysteresis more and more appears to be a sonic canvas revealing the different types of industrial music and especially all the kind of elements/influences you can mix with industrial music.

Best songs: “A Slut Utopia”, “Coercion & Consent”, “Disparse!”, “Coercion & Consent – Remix by Ah-Cama Sotz)”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/Hysteresis-197043060336637

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official