The Hirsch Effekt – Urian
Release Date: 29th September 2023
Label: Long Branch Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Metal
FFO: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Rolo Tomassi, Frontierer.
Review By: Jeff Finch
Anything labeled ‘progressive’ in the musical sense seems to be a catch-all for anything that doesn’t adhere to a typical musical motif: time signature changes, use of acoustic, varying vocals, any of these could somehow get a band labeled with the ‘progressive’ moniker. For this listener, and possibly for many, when the word progressive is thrown around in the metal scene, bands like Dream Theater and Opeth spring to mind and instantly throw us into a particular state of anticipation that may not have occurred otherwise. That the focus of this review, The Hirsch Effekt, has gotten compared to Rolo Tomassi, Frontierer, and even the legendary Dillinger Escape Plan, is to put a lot of pressure on a band that may not have even known about those lofty comparisons. And sadly, after listening to their newest record Urian, it seems as though the comparisons either don’t fit or the lofty expectations were not met, because the album sadly falls flat on a lot of fronts.
Now, don’t get me wrong, progressive metal is not typically my thing, and ordinarily requires a specific mindset to truly enjoy; most of the time that mood will determine the band that gets chosen. Unabashedly heavy with harsh vocals gets an Opeth or Dillinger nod, while somewhat subdued but still moderately heavy with clean vocals gets a Dream Theater nod, for simplicity’s sake. To their credit, The Hirsch Effekt do manage to somewhat fit into both of these molds over the course of these 8 tracks, but that’s also to their detriment, as their strengths clearly lie with the unabashedly heavy and their weaknesses are overtly apparent when the music and vocals stay in the realm of squeaky clean.
When the band takes a headlong dive into heavy, the riffs are meaty, the drumming is chaotic, and the vocals are visceral; the songs that present these moments are where a listener could clearly hear Dillinger or Rolo Tomassi influences and similarities; purposefully technical, ear catching, temp shifting, musically it keeps listeners on their toes, especially knowing that on the other end of the spectrum, the band is focusing primarily on simplicity and relative calm amongst the maelstroms. As a non-musician, it’s never my intent to speak down on how a band sounds, as I know that objectively what I’m hearing requires an immense amount of talent, but on those tracks where the band stays in a pocket of folk rock or post-rock, to place a term on it that may not be totally accurate, the songs meander, never really reaching a potential that the band has proven not only exists, but is truly excellent. Opener Agora falls into this plane of musicality, and it’s a bold strategy for the band to come out with less than their very best effort; the guitar is clean, notes picked with obvious restraint and intent, the vocals in German almost poetic for a non-speaker, but the song doesn’t go anywhere, unfortunately. It seems to build towards some crescendo that doesn’t exist until a listener hits the heavier tracks on the album, in this particular instance the follow-ups Otus and 2054, where an aural onslaught comes out of nowhere to bludgeon without restraint. Where the band manages to wow is on the epic Granica, probably the finest track on the album, where the shift from clean to heavy and back is almost seamless, a 7 juggernaut that perfectly demonstrates the unquestionable talent of these gents.
However, where this album really seems to fall is mostly in those transitions; the shifting from heavy into soft into heavy proves to be jarring from song to song, not necessarily mid-track (see Granica). It’s just like a novel that switches from past to present and back, or narrator to narrator; while it may work perfectly for a lot of bands (see Opeth), it reaches inconsistent success on Urian. If anything, it makes the listener long for those moments of pure heaviness, where The Hirsch Effekt is on a mission to obliterate with unfettered ferocity. It’s great when a band can keep us coming back for more, but not at the risk of sacrificing a great deal of your album to do so. A bit more than half of this album is superb, enthralling, captivating, while the other half of the album feels like it’s on the cusp but just doesn’t get there. I implore anyone that wants to check this album out to absolutely listen to the whole thing to gather your own opinions on this shifting musical dynamic, but for this listener, that shift does not yield overarchingly great results, but rather, great results in sporadic bursts.
(3.5 / 5)
