torstai 28. toukokuuta 2015

Hyperion - Cor in Therion - From Centauri Section We Came... demo 1997


Hyperion (aut) - Cor in Therion - From Centauri Section We Came... demo I 1997
1) The Reconquest of the Wargod
2) Nortara-Akhkharu
3) Truthin
4) The Fellowship of the Wargod
5) Unto Centauri Section
6) The Lost Wisdom of Alpha Centauri
7) Leaving Centauri Section
8) The Proclamation of the Wargod

Yandex / Zippyshare

I'm back from my leave and with a long overdue project finished due to a popular demand (two or more people asking for the same thing in a few months counts) and seeing that I had already ripped my dub of Austrian Hyperion's demo already in '10 it was about damn time! So, yeah, this band featured members from Amazeroth and The Call of the Four Gates, and changed/edited their name several times over the years, first to Hyperion MSSM (first album, re-recording of part of this demo's content released under this monicker) then Hyperion Deathbionics and finally Hyperion DB 369. They seem to have called it a day last year. I got this demo from a trader comrade and unfortunately that means no covers and also some tape wear plus the oddly uneven and infrequent yet at times absolutely massive hiss can be heard. Though the strange hiss could be considered part of the sound so no biggie.

Another curious thing is the title. As you see above from the epic collage/placeholder combo used to decorate the post there is variety. I got this under the title "Cor in Therion" and my trader wrote: other title "From Centauri Section We Came..." which I interpreted as either alternative title or second part of it. The later versions of the demo were released under the title "From Centauri Section We Came - We Require the Throne for Us!!!" and had at least two different covers: an explosive spacey thing (strictly better of the two, left on collage) and some sort of an Arabian Nights themed one (strictly weirder, on the right). I was somewhat unsure what to call this, options were just "Cor in Therion" which then would be easy to mix with the album (even if it was released with the changed band name), then the one picked and seen above, in the spirit of the later versions and thirdly "Cor in Therion (From Centauri Section We Came...)" which in hindsight I now like best. Too late to cry, though.

That's all fascinating, right, but what about the music? Well, reminds me of The Call of the Four Gates actually quite a bit, the sound is similarily half-messy and raw. Older Golden Dawn pops into mind from time to time too. It's quite melodic and atmospheric black metal with epic leanings, mostly midpaced and general performance somewhere between adequate and clumsy but that is not an issue for me. I seem to enjoy the sound here greatly today, much more than the less charismatic, produced clean sound of the album versions. Similar to Nehëmah's "Light of a Dead Star" recordings the demo is longer than the album. One reason why it took me so long to finish this was the initial difficulty with track divisions as the songs are quite sprawling and have these ambient interludes messing things up. And again the timings on Metal Archives seem to be incorrect. I don't think the content differs between the versions of the demo. Enough text for now, I am a busy man; recommended and be sure to pick this up if you enjoy one or more of these things: Austrian black metal, cosmic/space-oriented black metal, rough demo versions of songs, The Call of the Four Gates, multiple black metal vocalists, long songs, concept releases.

6 kommenttia:

kingpossum kirjoitti...

As you'd probably guess, I dove in for the cosmic/space-oriented BM and concept lures. Conceptually it's a little tough to tie all the styles together...track 4 sounds like an unfinished Judas Priest track from Nostradamus, track 5 welcomes Hawkwind to the party, and track 6 lurches much like a drunken Black Sabbath. Add to that the cosmic interlude bits. All good fun, then.

Thanks to all for the post.

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@kingpossum:

Yup, it's a good listen, to my surprise a lot better than I recalled! Now that you mentioned it I am reminded of my infinitely delayed project to get to listen to the "new" Priest albums. I almost bought "Nostradamus" from a market just the other year but then got something silly instead. Wonder if they'd still have a copy lying about?

kingpossum kirjoitti...

You may want to check out Angel of Retribution before diving into Nostradamus. I like Nostradamus (and am well in the minority on that score), but Angel is the better example of their return to form, to my ears.

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@king:

You're probably right and generally I prefer to advance in chronological order when possible!

Panacea kirjoitti...

Great stuff Velkaarn!Thanx for the notice.
I checked also some tracks from the released version of this (their first album with the better production) which also sounded ok to my ears.
Now i should check their other albums too.

Velkaarn kirjoitti...

@Panacea:

Thought you might like it! And yup, certainly check out the "new" albums too. I didn't like "Skulltivation" and kind of stopped there. I should really give the other two at least one chance and maybe try that one again.