CD, Ark-Aïk, 2006
www.ybrid.org
Before I even begin I have to admit that Hardcore is a style of music I don’t know very much about. I certainly have an understanding of it, but the genre in general takes up less than 5% of my CD collection, however I do know what I like and having been introduced to Ybrid by a friend, I simply had to jump at the chance at getting to review her latest album “Khaos De Viscera”. Yes, Ybrid is a she. Sylvie Egret by name, and something I do know is that there are very few females on the hardcore scene – let alone females doing Hardcore this well.
“Khaos De Viscera” has an amazing amount of depth to it as a whole. It’s not your usual brand of hardcore, it has something more. Mixing classical, opera and noise in with the usual 4/4 beats certainly sets Ybrid apart from her peers, and having such varied musical tastes, ranging from The Art of Noise through to Primus, DJ Producer and The Horrorist, amongst others, shows clearly in her work. The album has a great flow to it, and doesn’t stop for its entirety, which adds to its intensity. Each track does work well on its own, but to get the full benefit it’s best to listen to it as a whole to see it from it’s subtle beginnings to it’s dramatic and rather frightening end.
“Khaos de Viscera” starts off fairly unassumingly with “Excetra”, a track which starts quietly and builds into quite a brooding and dark sound setting the pace for the rest of the album when the beats kick in half way through. “Strepitus” is a particular highlight as, about three quarters the way through, the track everything goes silent and the next thing you hear is a wonderful sample of opera before the beats give in again. I also highly rate “Scanssilis” as this is a little more dance floor friendly, a little bit more of a groove than most of the other tracks. Simple and rhythmic, “Exscreo” is nothing short of awesome and is a floor-filler sure to get people dancing without any problem; also you just try and spot the Star Wars sample. The album ends with “Datura”, a known hallucinogen and poison, a noisy and beat driven track up until the last minute, which has the spookiest sounding ending ever – freaky voices and the sound of a decreasing heart beat over some basic chanting is really rather unnerving.
In all this is an excellent album which skilfully merges a variety of influences and elements from seemingly unexpected genres such as Opera, Classical and Noise, all the while making a masterful use of sampling. In “Khaos de Viscera” you’ve got it all and then some. Highly recommended.
[8/10]
— Kate Turgoose