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Hyl – Where Emptiness Is All [EP]

hyl – where emptiness is all [ep]

Info

This “new” international three piece band, of rather accomplished and talented musicians, have come together from places within Italy and Poland to bring forth some of the best Atmospheric Black Metal to be released in a long time. I say “new” here because we have no real information out there as to when this band actually started and became a band. But ‘Where Emptiness Is All’ happens to be HYL’s debut release to this disgusting world of ours and just so happens to be a gloriously grimy, beautiful, chaotic, and majestic beacon in an already oversaturated, overcrowded landscape of a genre.

But what do a band that I put this much praise on sound like? Well, they actually sound like a mixture of many Atmospheric Black Metal bands, where they pick and choose the best parts from some of the best bands in the genre and blend it into one cohesive, gorgeous sound of their own. For within HYL’s music you have touches of Drudkh’s riffing and pacing combined with the choral chords and aural feel of The Ruins Of Beverast plus you have the layer upon layer of guitar riffing that is just below the surface of the main wall of sound much like Wolves In The Throne Room/Weakling. They take all of that, blend it together, add their own spices and have created a true gem of the genre.

This is all fine and good, if the final end product actually sounds good that is. And thankfully ‘Where Emptiness Is All’ sounds absolutely stunning, gorgeous even. Every note, tone and layer are audible yet still somehow covered in a gritty filth layer that we all know and love. Whoever produced, mixed and mastered this release has an amazing talent at making Atmospheric Black Metal sound the best it can. So many layers, so many sounds, so many things become noticable with each and every listen, making each and every listen a new and equally excitable time.

All of that above is nice and all, and I get I gave high praise already, but if you are not able to write a song worth crap then no amount of good production or quality influences can make you a good band or make your album good. Also, high quality songwriting makes repeat listens a thing, facts, period. And luckily for us, HYL understand how to write a song and a whole release worth of them at that. They understand flow, structure and order. Hell, even the ambient section, intros and outros are well written and actually add something to the total package rather than just being filler and useless as they can be at times with other bands releases.

So, to wrap things up, HYL’s ‘Where Emptiness Is All’ is an impressive “journey into introspection, in the relationship with nature and the vision of the human being condition”. (Per the band) Which I get, you hear that same kind of thing all the time from Atmospheric Black Metal bands. And to be honest, the rest of the word salad above could, technically, be swapped out and used for a review for many bands of this ilk . So, you may ask, what really sets HYL apart from the rest of the pack? Well, that would come down to quality. Plain and simple. The wheel really doesn’t always need to be reinvented to truly enjoy it. Sometimes all it takes is just being really damn good at it and executing to perfection.

Hyl

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