Sometimes, an album grabs you on its first listen and sometimes it takes a little longer. Hyperion by Dirge is certainly an album that falls into the latter category but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it’s often enjoyable to drink in an album and really mull over it.
The thing with Hyperion is that Dirge really aren’t in a hurry to hammer home a point. The music is slow and drawn-out but there isn’t a moment when you’re sat there thinking that the song is dragging and wondering when it’s all going to end. The music is just there, making its own journey, and you’re like an accompanying passenger.
Hyperion Under Glass is a particularly great track, sitting quite nicely in the middle of the album. It has this haunting yet simplistic guitar line at the start of the track which swiftly becomes a theme within the song and it’s also good how the vocals are used as an accompanying instrument rather than taking a lead role throughout. Being vocal-heavy can sometimes be a little much and Dirge’s approach is much better.
Hyperion closes with a 16 minute epic, Remanentie. An extremely atmospheric track, Dirge have pulled out all the stops with this one and have created a masterpiece with it. The track simultaneously seems to revisit some of the older ideas in the album whilst also sounding completely fresh and like a whole new piece, which is an example of masterful songwriting and it just brings the album to a strong and all-round epic close.
Aside from there being the slight problem of all the songs sounding a little similar to one another, due to the near-identical song structures, Hyperion is an excellent album and really plays on the band’s strengths. Highly recommended if you’re into your sludge.
8/10
