Greece’s Hail Spirit Noir is one of the most experimental bands out there.  Their last album, Mannequins, from 2021 I reviewed on here and I still really enjoy it.  This was their most audacious piece of work because it was made up of more synth/wave, 80’s horror movie instrumentals and sounds.  Only a handful of the tunes had vocals.

Their previous album Eden in Reverse, from 2020, James from our site, wrote up a review that really piqued my interest since I had never heard of them.  That led me to love the album and obtain their back catalog.   Eden in Reverse was really out-of-the-box type of music getting into psychedelic 70’s/80’s progressive shoegaze sounds.  But damn I love it.  So these last two albums were a departure from their prior black metal albums, although those releases still had a plethora of weirdness and non-linear compositions.

This all leads us to Fossil Gardens, their sixth album, and with seven songs in 42 minutes, where does Hail Spirit Noir decide to travel??  The answer is, well…a continuation of the exceptional Eden in Reverse, however reaching back to their first 3 experimental black metal albums, Pneuma, Oi Magoi and Mayhem in Blue, bringing forth more of the extreme nature which put the band on the map, from the jump.

“Starfront Promenade” starts with the sounds/vocals/shoegaze style of Eden in Reverse, before erupting into the black metal speed and harsh vocals.  The psychedelic/space keyboard sounds are outstanding and as the metal takes over it eventually shifts to the Eden In Reverse types of vocals and beats.  It’s enthralling and a magnificent and a catchy track.

“The Temple of Curved Space” is up next and yes, it is abundantly clear the band has perfectly mixed the black metal from their first three albums with a heavy dose of Eden in Reverse.  The band going back and forth between these styles so seamlessly.  This song starts with excellent double bass drums and the black metal riffing comes in with harsh vocals, blasts then abruptly shifts to the 70’s/80’s psychedelic moments with the dreamlike shoegaze vocals, then boom, right back into the black metal all the while Haris unnerving us all with those amazing ethereal keyboards.  Theoharis’ vocals are excellent how he goes from all the different styles, as he reaches into his Hail Spirit Noir toolbox to showcase his talents.  His guitar riffing and solos are radical, original and never boring.  Foivos Chatzis drums in such weird patterns at times and he can change up the beats at a moments notice. Demian’s complimentary guitar work is on display, as is his bass guitar which is audible.  Towards the end of this song the vocal and music styles shift at blinding speeds and, at over seven minutes in length, there is a lot going on.  The vocal lines are exceedingly catchy, to a fault.

“The Road to Awe” is the longest song and at ten minutes this song is one of their most experimental.  From the opening space and far off sounds to the soft music and vocals opening up the track more as this builds to epic proportions before the black metal leanings with vocals and music enter into the picture.  Then back to the softer moment.   Then Haris does something genius here to let us know he’s about to hit us with a Holy Shit moment.  Such as in instances when there is an isolated guitar or bass slide to signify some major tempo shift is going to erupt, rather than that route we are treated to a keyboard slide.  Ride after that,  BOOM!!!!!  Right into the black metal blasting and vocals.  This part is stellar.  There are so many sounds going on at once, it is quite dizzying at times.  There are other isolated moments on this song, such as with the double bass drums, and then the music entering into the picture.  These little nuances add a lot to the overall song and entire album as the band allows each member to shine separately at times.  “Ludwig in Orbit” is an instrumental but I won’t hammer the band since this brings in the Mannequins influence with the synth sounds – it fits perfectly.

Fossil Gardens is one of the best albums for 2024, hands down in my opinion.  This is the ultimate Hail Spirit Noir album as this is a true realization of their different styles, all packed up into 42 minutes.  The blending of the styles never sound out of place, yes at times, will catch you off guard, however the band is uninterested in creating typical music in any sort of genre.  It’s as if they have developed an entire genre that is specific only to them – there is no band that sounds like Hail Spirit Noir.  This is their most extreme album to date!  Mesmerizing,  brutal, experimental, yet breathtakingly beautiful all at once.  This album is on another level, folks!!

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