Hiraes: Dormant (2024, Napalm Records)

Dormant is the long-awaited new album from German-based melodic death metal band Hiraes, a project formed in 2020 by members of Dawn Of Disease and Cripper. The ensemble based in Hanover and Osnabrück is made up of vocalist Britta Görtz (Chaos Rising, Critical Mess, ex-Cripper), guitarists Oliver Kirchner (ex-Dawn of Disease, ex-Contamination) and Lukas Kerk (ex-Dawn of Disease , ex-Weak Aside), bassist Christian Wösten (Embedded, ex-Bound for Tomb, ex-Dawn of Disease, ex-The Vast, ex-Edenfall) and drummer Mathias Blässe (ex-Dawn of Disease, ex-Maladie ), a solid formation that has been maintained since its foundation in 2020.

Hiraes debuted in 2021 with the spectacular album Solitary, released through Napalm Records, an album that broke many molds when it was released and that continues to this day as one of the most solid debuts in recent years, combining forceful and powerful guitars with the brutal voice of Britta Görtz, and that is something that the band claims with each of their songs. Three years after launching into the ring with their debut album, they return to the present with a shocking and spectacular new album as Dormant, composed of ten new songs that in just over 45 minutes in length manage to reveal all the potential of a band that is establishing itself as one of the most solid groups in recent years.

Dormant starts with the apocalyptic Through The Storm, the first of the three singles from this new album that we had already been able to hear previously. Britta Görtz‘s voice already captures you from the first moment and completely destroys you, to which we must add the marvelous rhythm section and the combination of sharp guitars that shine at all times, combining aggressiveness and melody with total cohesion, something which shines even more brightly in the second song We Owe No One, where guitarists Oliver Kirchner and Lukas Kerk offer an authentic masterclass on the six strings. Combining the aggressiveness and forcefulness of the rhythm section led by bassist Christian Wösten and drummer Mathias Blässe we hit the mark with the superlative song Undercurrent that lowers the speedometer a little to offer us a calmer and deeper facet in which we find another great performance by Britta Görtz on vocals.

Chance To Fail once again revs up this fantastic album with catchy beats and rhythms that are both frenetic and melodic in which the guitar part steals almost all the limelight, proving once again that Hiraes is one of the great promises of the genre, referencing to other great masters of the genre such as Dark Tranquillity or In Flames. About Lies makes its way with some very well-paced plucks again by Oliver Kirchner and Lukas Kerk to give way to the rhythm section of Wösten and Blässe while Görtz welcomes us with a bombastic growl that is capable of making you move your head with an aggressiveness that I have seen little in recent years, at times even bordering on grindcore with the occasional sound very close to what we know as pig squeal.

Come Alive serves as an instrumental interlude whose effectiveness is rewarded with the sudden arrival of Ocean Child, the seventh song on an album that never gets boring and keeps you attentive at all times. Once again we find catchy riffs to which are added some very punctual orchestral arrangements that give Ocean Child a very elaborate and engaging atmosphere, making this one of the most interesting songs on an already excellent album. The last part of the album becomes more aggressive if possible with the arrival of the fast and dark Nightflight in which we find little melody to show the most aggressive and death metal side of the band, combining guttural voices from hell itself by their excellent vocalist Britta Görtz. You have to pay close attention to Nightflight‘s guitar solo since it is one of my favorites on the entire album.

The last part of Dormant continues to maintain the level of aggressiveness and speed with the frenetic Red Soil in which drummer Mathias Blässe offers probably his best work after the patches, with very calculated blast beats perfectly synchronized with the guitars of Kirchner and Kerk. Without even noticing that we find ourselves listening to Dormant, the title song of the album itself, with which they also reserve a large part of their energy to shake our hearts after a calmer introduction that suddenly turns into a sonic storm of death metal made with melodies where Britta once again takes the lead, taking center stage in a magnificent closing that is the finishing touch to an album that far surpasses what was already complicated, her glorious debut Solitary (2021, Napalm Records). Hiraes demonstrates once again that they are the authentic relief of melodic death metal with an album that practically borders on outstanding where the mixing of Ricardo Borges (Carcass, At The Gates) and the mastering of Jens Bogren (Amorphis, Katatonia) give this album of a very particular atmosphere.