Year: 2026
Label: Zoharum
Last time we crossed paths with Belgian Hybryds (In The Wake Of The Witch, reviewed here), they were on a somewhat more mystical and even mythological trip. Their newest outing sees Hybryds move into a much more corporeal realm.
Like its name suggests, 7even Deadly Sins is all about the cardinal sins of christianity. Though the album actually has 11 tracks, thanks to an intro and a coda/outro and two live tracks, all tracks explore the concept of sin. And, as the cover art with its bondage aesthetics suggests, from a rather carnal perspective.
Where In The Wake Of The Witch balanced somewhere between new age, commanding tribal rhythms and downtempo elements, 7even Deadly Sins considerably simplifies the musical equation in many ways. Not only does it forsake the tribal and new age elements, for the most part, it even forsakes melody.
Instead, 7even Deadly Sins focuses musically on minimalism and repetition. The electronic beat is both the pulse and the backbone of the album. Upon the programmed trip hop beat, stripped down musical elements are layered sparsely: repetitive, static synth arrangements, effects and, at the album’s most musical, semi-melodies.
At the true centre of the album are the spoken-word vocals. A sultry, sensuous and decadent female voice speaks in deeply erotic terms of the deadly sins that are the focus of the album. The intro and the coda, Love and Pain respectively, provide the context in which Hybryds approaches the subject: the dichotomy of love and ecstasy with lust and pain, and the power play between the two.
There’s something enticing about this setup of simple musical arrangements and a commanding voice. However, the downfall of the album is its sheer massiveness. Clocking in at 75 minutes of tracks all cut from the same cloth, it just becomes too much. The same formula repeats, and becomes tedious.
Once again, here’s a case for less being more. Cut out the live tracks and maybe one or two other tracks to trim this into a 45 minute album, and it could’ve been a far more engaging, less arduouss thing to tackle. Because, at the best of times, 7even Deadly Sins manages to evoke a bit of the subversive eroticism and sensuality of Madonna’s Erotica – but with this running time, those moments are too few and too far between.
