I’ll admit that upon hearing a band is from France, I am a bit skeptical. A brief search through the mental registry of metal bands under ‘France’ comes up with only Gojira. Let’s be honest, France isn’t really an established stronghold of metal or underground music. Eryn Non Dae.’s (formally known as END.) Metal Blade release, Hydra Lernaia, might just change that though.

Immediately upon a casual listen of Hydra Lernaia you can tell Eryn Non Dae. are brethren to Gojira, with forceful, plowing primitive riffs. What is most noticeable, however, is a very tangible Meshuggah influence. It is equally evident the influence of the 20+ year old Swedish band will be long lasting, if for no other reason than every tech-death, deathcore, young death metal, extreme music band and their mom have been either paying homage to, or straight ripping off the Swedish percussionists’ distinctive groove and rhythm experimentation.

Eryn Non Dae. differ from many of these bands. They sound like Meshuggah, sure, but it is their own sound, not a mere tacked on musical aesthetic. They’ve adapted much of the percussive intricacies of bands like Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan while molding it around a large range of refined dynamics and understated ambiance. These are not mere copycat riffs that shortcut creative integrity, it is a continuation, even a re-imagining of the Meshuggah style.

As it is to be expected, the drumming on the album is insane. For one, I don’t think these guys are making time signatures with real numbers. I think the time signatures might be just represented with mathematical symbol of ‘i’. At times, I don’t think they even believe in time signatures. The drumming is dense and rich and bizarrely textured. Sweeping tom fills, pounding kicks, peculiar snare hits, dynamic and dissonant cymbals, it’s all there. The ability of the drummer to evoke the chaos through refined creative means really creates a depth to the album, providing a fantastic framework for expansion.

The guitar work builds on the foundations laid by the drums to sculpt the monolithic soundscape of Hydra Lernaia. The raw percussive sections follow the dense drumming creating a textured concussion with incomprehensible rhythms that create a near psychedelic aural experience. These primitive sounding spaces dip in and out of melodic sections with spacey dissonant resonances creating real mood and atmosphere. It is the mastery of these dynamics that make Eryn Non Dae. and Hydra Lernaia so remarkable. The contrasting elements of melody and dissonance are unified through masterful song writing. Despite the sweeping contrast between musical elements and swinging transitions made throughout the album, the listener never feels lost. All the chaos is deliberate and methodical. Never does a riff or piece feel misplaced, or haphazard.

The only point of protest to offer is the vocal style. The vocalist takes a while to get used to. His raspy and hollow sound may at times seem too thin and stale to many. During the palm muted rhythm and percussive sections the hoarse cries work well by cutting through the pulverizing, jackhammer-like density. However, the vocals shine less in the more subdued sections. The throaty calls fail to carry the dynamic nature of many of the songs. During atmospheric or tone and melody-driven sections, they sit on top of the artful guitar and drum work not providing an appropriate vehicle to carry the mood and emotional aesthetic of such instrumentation. Depending on the listener, the weaker vocals may be overlooked and even found to be satisfactory due to the brilliance of the rest of the material.

Walking a fine line between the abstract and the material, Eryn Non Dae. stays grounded and relatively accessible. Hydra Lernaia as an album, has a unique ability to engage the listener as a savage and as an intellectual. It’s complexity and intricacy and even at times its delicacy proves memorable.Hydra Lernaia is simply good, smart art. Painting a unique perspective as an exploratory experience of contrast, contradiction, the barbaric, and the cultured. Bottom line, this is not an album to sleep on.

4.0/5