HACRIDE – Amoeba

Be forewarned that this is not some band you want to meet up against in the finals of a Battle Of The Bands competition. They will blow your oars out of the water and to make sure it isn’t a fluke, turn your boat over to place emphasis on getting your ass kicked in public. Hacride isn’t any ordinary Progressive Hardcore/Metal band. The music is incredibly genuine and powerful. It is a Rush/TOOL-type Metal band that turns the intensity up another level beyond belief. With all of its stops and time changes, powerful vocals, massive production, intense and pummeling drums, intricate polyrhythms, riffing, thrashing galore, reserves as deep as an endless pit, and deep, low-end bass runs, these are just a sample of what to expect from the music created by this talented and artistic foursome.

Hacride is a French band that was founded in 2001, made up of four musicians Samuel Bourreau (vocals), Adrien Grousset (guitar), Benoist Danneville (bass), and Olivier Laffond (drums), all coming from several bands playing a variety of Metal styles from Black to Thrash Metal. Amoeba is the band’s second album. As good as their debut album Deviant Current Signal back in 2005 was, their latest release is that much better. This album could be, since it is definitely strong enough, album of the year. If it doesn’t win this category, it should at least be in contention for the honor, otherwise it would be criminally negligent to omit it. Perhaps Hacride’s success from their debut release could be transformed into their newest release, since, once again, Hacride decided to use Franck Hueso to produce with engineer Jean Pierre Bouquet to master back at L’Autre Studio in France, with Hacride co-producing.

There are ten tracks on the new release, coming in right around 54:25 minutes. The opener is called “Perturbed” and can be considered dark, yet full of testosterone at the same time. Definitely an eye-opener. The guitar/double bass drum attack by Adrien/Olivier is relentless. If you listen carefully, you will hear the intricate and subtle guitar of Adrien even when you don’t think there is any guitar work going on. “Vision Of Hate” is a track that has incredible guitar/bass combination. The heaviness and clean playing ability of this band is truly amazing. At around 2:17, and again at around 5:37, there is a Rush sound (a.k.a. Geddy Lee attack) being produced by the bassist Benoist. This is a top three song on this album. “Zambra” is the fourth track and a very unique and different song in its own right. Hacride does its own cover of Spain’s modern flamenco stars Ojos De Brujo in this spot. This track might be the best one on this album. It is full of incredible talent, when looked at both vocally and instrumentally. This cover song could put Hacride into the big leagues. “Liquid” has some impressive guitar work opening the song by Adrien. “Cycle” has incredibly fast and wonderful-sounding bass lines incorporated into the song that Benoist handles with no trouble at all. In “Deprived of Soul,” a strong Rush presence is heard at around the 5:27 or 5:28 minute mark. A very complex song with numerous changes along the way. “Ultima Necat” utilizes a very dark, but intentional, style of guitar. The song takes you to another place as it opens. It sounds so raw and yet so full of energy at the same time.

Having said all this about the recent release Amoeba doesn’t really leave much as far as speculating goes on your end. Should you or shouldn’t you spend your hard-earned cash on this CD? This is a rare jewel that every lover of Metal, Hardcore/Metal, Progressive Hardcore/Metal would be insane to not to own a copy.