Hybrid is an apt name for this experimental Spanish metal act. Melding grindcore, djent, death metal, tech/math metal and jazzy experimental flourishes, the band is certainly adventurous with its sound, and on their second effort it creates one challenging, creative , if at times testing listen.

This isn’t Azure Emote levels of crazy experimentation, but rather a genre collision that comes across a little like Cephalic Carnage, Gojira, The Red Chord, Dillenger, Nasum, and Meshuggah mixed in a blender with a jar of nails and bolts. For many, this vortex of styles is a good thing, and for me, at times it does create a pretty unique sound. For others it might simply be too chaotic and all over the place, which I could understand considering the myriad if things going on here, but at least Hybrid is forging their own path. If your are the kind of person that loathes Between the Buried and Me, or some of the noisy caustic bands on Black Market Activities, this isn’t for you.

Angst isn’t a quick satisfying listen. The first three tracks alone, “Flesh Fusion Threshold”, “Enter the Void” and “Collapse to None”, stuff enough jarring, staggering riffs, grinding blasts, spoken words, guttural bellows, saxophone injections, feral screams, clean vocal and acoustic breaks to fill an entire album in their own right, so don’t be expecting a sing along chorus or power chord based radio hit to come from the speakers. But what you will get is a truly ambitious album that flaunts the band’s skill set and creativity, while pushing the envelope for patience.

Angst is a noisy record, it rarely settles into anything for long, but rather sputters and shatters with broken glass riffs littered with a few bursts of brutality and the occasional injection of jazzy clarity. “Cuando El Destino Nos Alsance” delivers something a little more reflective with a steady groove and shimmery synths, but that’s partially because there are no vocals, and that removes some of the crazy from Hybrid’s ADD addled sound. But fear not, it comes back in force after the misleading start of “Angst Ridden Inertia”, before the surprisingly mellow, but still dissonant lope of “Doomed to Failure” where the high pitch screams and deeps bellows again add even more searing discordance to the rumbling, tumbling screeching vortex but the track ends the album on a rare introspective note.

While I appreciate Deepsend stepping out of their comfort zone, and appreciate Hybrid and their ambitiousness on this solid release, I prefer the label’s pure death metal offerings. Hybrid occasionally grates on me after one or two tracks, namely the higher register vocals. But Angst is still a pretty interesting release with a lot going on and should be checked out by the more adventurous and patient metal fans.

[Visit the band's website]

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