H.N.P.

Trepalium

"H.N.P" is the fourth album from the French Death / Groove Metal band TREPALIUM. After […]
By Ehsan "The FlowerHead" Bitarafan
August 16, 2012
Trepalium - H.N.P. album cover

"H.N.P" is the fourth album from the French Death / Groove Metal band TREPALIUM. After more than 300 concerts and three studio albums, the band found its way in the French Death Metal scene and also in international scene as well. Their performance live is so touching and powerful. They unleashed hell with "Glowing cloud" taken from the "XIII" album and also "Vesania" from their second album, "Alchemik Clockwork Of Disorder" and lots of other good live songs performances from their entire discography. "H.N.P" was released through Klonosphere with the distribution of Season Of Mist.

"H.N.P" follows the technical direction and lyricism of "XIII" as the latter followed its previous. So basically TREPALIUM created a sort of a connected chain on this four albums' journey that became perfect followed also by more complicated lyrics and ideas with an attention to heavier and powerful playing. TREPALIUM is a dynamic band with great differences from modern artists like MARILYN MANSON with their constant development between albums. You can not actually submit a genre for them, yet the easiest thing is to recognize TREPALIUM as a Death Metal band with psychosocial / psychological lyrics that become stronger in their meaning as time passes. So you might expect this new album to reach higher levels. In general I conjured that it really is and I will tell you why. Indeed by listening to this album you may probably notice two important points on both the album and the band in general. There are KK on vocals and Sylvain Bouvier on drums as my personal best performers. Their performance was excellent did a great job along with their absorption following the guitar role of the leading factor, Harun Demiraslan. That same notion took me to other great acts of the French scene that naturally have impressive and emotive drum and vocalist, for example GOJIRA, which I also think that they have been the greater part of TREPALIUM's influence.
 

"H.N.P" begins the expedition with "Heic Noenum Pax" and ends with with "The Worst Fiend". This is an energetic journey deep inside the human mind. There are two separate additions to the release with the different "Raining Past" track, an instrumental piece and a yet another successful cover for PANTERA with "I'm Broken". "Heic Noenum Pax" begins with powerful heavy riffs and a touching rhythm, awesome keyboard sections along with mean type of drumming that commences with kind of inner pain sensation from within. As I mentioned earlier, the entire album is about society and how it affect the human mind, the motivational conflict we share and the ones we don't wish to. TREPALIUM introduce the problems that mankind is struggling with as you can listen from this track, especially through the keyboard sections that sound hellish. The singer chants: "Born alone, live alone, die alone. For a long time its been gone. Work, buy, believe, be a clone".

On "Slave The World" isn't full with lyrics but it's another part of the chain that "H.N.P" represents after introducing the suffering of mankind and feeling of being enslaved as it was written: "By fear be a slave, Slave the world, By fear be a slave save the worms". I think its simple enough to understand whole song with these two lines. There is a fear that we must obey to. TREPALIUM basically acknowledge that fear can be like a master to mankind and control it as it wishes. This song starts with a an aggressive rhythm combined with harsh double bass drum kicks in the background only to slowly fade on the guitars riffs for a later comeback. The combination with vocalist KK's violent voice elevated this song to new horizons. "Let The Clown Rise" is my favorite song and one of the strongest among the setlist. This beloved number begins with an adequate riffing and sinks into powerful screaming. The riffing is essentially the main rhythm of the song that you will hear on all the verses. There is also a short melodic guitar flow here and there too but the basic melodic rhythm of this song is really solid and while keeping the song as rhythm oriented. Within the lyrics of "Let The Crown Rise" you can hear this ordered sentence almost 6 or 7 times: "Just Let The Madness Rules!". It has some similarities with GOJIRA's "Vacuity" in many ways. In my opinion, the basic idea of this one is letting go of the insanity within. There is a verse on the mid song that says: "In front of my eyes of curiosity there is one thing to understand, Fucked up always have the last words, Because its necessary to become a true man". On GOJIRA's "Vacuity" is seems to be spreading on the same wave: "Is it fear to falls space that keeps us from understanding?, The only way to find the power is to look inside, Increase your fall on purpose and let this river flow!, Now you hold the secret appear out of vacuum of space".

So TREPALIUM fundamentally with songs like "Let The Crown Rise" and the "Insane Architect" have this message for readers, listeners and artists and Metal fans that you must let the insanity come from its hiding with hailstones of destruction in you and diminish the fake "conflicts" and "motives" that aren't real and to prevent them from becoming a reality. On the whole I found "Let The Crown Rise" and the "Insane Architect" meaningfully and technically in terms of music as the most greatest songs on this album. Through "Insane Architect" KK sings: "Live like this day is last, spend time, too fast". I heard these statements from the written words of C. G. Jung, the psychologist and psychoanalyst of the late 20th, and also by some divine parties and majorities as well. Regardless of songs' meanings and what the lyrics are about, after 34 minutes and 88 seconds of listening to "H.N.P" we reach to PANTERA's cover song "I'm Broken". I think this of the most greatest cover I've ever heard for this song. Cédric "KK" Punda had done a great job on this one. Personally I think the vocal pattern of Anselmo is awesome along with the Abbots' drums and guitars. You can make the comparison yourself.

I offer this release for all Death Metal fans out there. TREPALIUM have their way of repeating themselves from time to time, especially when it comes to the drum passages and guitar verses, but still the end result was good. Even if classical Death Metal style of playing is still the reining thing, this new French deathly groove attributes like GOJIRA and TREPALIUM has something of their own to offer for the Metal world. 

7 / 10

Good

"H.N.P." Track-listing:

1. Heic Noenum Pax
2. Prescription of crisis
3. Slave The World
4. Order The labyrinth
5. Insane Architect
6. Let The Crown Rise
7. I Was
8. The Worst Fiend
9. Raining Past
10. I'm Broken (Pantera cover)

Trepalium Lineup:

Cédric "KK" Punda - Vocals
Harun Demiraslan - Guitars / Keyboard
Nicolass Amosse - Guitars
Ludovic Chauveau - Bass
Sylvain Bouvier - Drums

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