Friday Full-Length: Hypnos 69, The Eclectic Measure
What a record. Formed in 1995, Belgian heavy psychedelic progressive rockers Hypnos 69 were at the vanguard of a revivalist sound, but by the time they got around to releasing their fourth album, The Eclectic Measure, in 2006 through Elektrohasch Schallplatten, their depth of arrangement, complexity of songcraft and melodic grace were their own. Running a sprawl across 10 songs and 48 minutes, the band — brothers Steve Houtmeyers (vocals, guitar, synth, theremin) and Dave Houtmeyers (drums, synth, percussion, glockenspiel, timpani), as well as bassist Tom Vanlaer (also synth, Hammond, Rhodes piano) and secret-weapon multi-instrumentalist Steven Marx (tenor and baritone sax, Mellotron, clarinet, Rhodes, Hammond, seemingly whatever else a given part called for) — surpassed even the scope of 2004’s The Intrigue of Perception (discussed here) and captured a warm-toned organic vibe that made each detail precious.
The interplay of acoustic strum and glockenspiel before the Mellotron leads the build in “Forgotten Souls,” that humble sweep there, or the lush but unassuming way in which “I and You and Me (II)” builds off the album’s intro “I and You and Me (I)” with a quiet flow, folkish vocal delivery, down-home electric guitar solo just past halfway into its 6:25 and subsequent sax-blast crescendo, or even the subdued melodic exploration in the sub-two-minute instrumental “My Ambiguity of Reality,” the hand-drums and blips behind the guitar and Vanlaer‘s Moog in “Halfway to the Stars.” Each piece on The Eclectic Measure was and is a showcase of progressive intent, but it’s the totality — the front-to-back experience — through which they made their declaration, whether that’s the title-track bursting to life out of the ending to “I and You and Me (I)” and giving an initial hook to ground the proceedings that seem to lift off the ground so casually, or the soft comedown of closer “Deus Ex Machina” (which does have a subdued payoff in Mellotron and timpani to finish) after the landmark culmination offered in the penultimate “The Point of No Return,” the initial weeping guitar lead of which signals the righteousness to come as it moves past its verses into what, in my mind at least, is a career-defining arc.
Life affords very few moments of absolute perfection, and even fewer of those ever end up on records, but “The Point of No Return” is one of them. There’s the soft, almost sneaking around of the verse and the snap of snare before two minutes in as it shifts into a classic prog boogie — answering both the fuzz shuffle of the earlier “The Antagonist” and the jazzy runs and King Crimson‘ed distorted verse of “Ominous (But Fooled Before)” immediately preceding — before dropping to organ, bass and meandering-seeming electric guitar as the start of a build through an increasingly-adrenaline-fueled-but-still-controlled vibrant rush, the crash cymbal becoming propulsive past the four-minute mark as the song, which is the longest on The Eclectic Measure at 7:42, feels more and more like it’s about to live up to its title. In the spirit of Opeth‘s “Closure” as played on the 2003 Lamentations live video/album, the tension becomes maddening, except that Hypnos 69, instead of ending there push even further, turning at 5:28 to a series of hit-stops and Iberian-ish acoustic guitar in call and response, the weeping lead line coming back beautifully before minute six to underscore the thoughtfulness, plot and understated majesty of the entire arrangement. That they then return to the verse, contradicting the title, does nothing to diminish the spirit of how far out they’ve gone, instead reinforcing it with a rare sense of wholeness; a total, album-style flight compacted into one song. One complete, perfect moment.
The Eclectic Measure was produced by Hypnos 69 and Jean-Pierre Kerckhofs at Artsound Studio in Houthalen. Kerckhofs had also recorded The Intrigue of Perception and the band’s concurrent split with Colour Haze, but The Eclectic Measure remains a lesson in the power of attention to detail, be it in “The Point of No Return,” the ’60s psych-folk sunshine of the keys in “Halfway to the Stars” or the way the percussion in “Forgotten Souls” seems to foreshadow the ending of the album in “Deus Ex Machina.” Among the many strengths of the record is the fact that, in listening, one can immerse completely in these nuances and intricacies spread throughout the tracks like the treasures they are, or not. Especially if you’re new to the band or you don’t know this record, etc., you can put on “I and You and Me (I)” and trust that the material will carry you through, because yes, it will. And that’s true of “The Point of No Return” in itself, as well as “Deus Ex Machina” and “The Eclectic Measure” and “My Ambiguity of Reality,” taken as an entirety or as individual pieces.
Another thing about The Eclectic Measure? It can’t even be called the band’s crowning achievement. Four years later, in 2010, Hypnos 69 offered their to-date swansong, aptly-titled Legacy (review here), and dove even further into the reaches of progressive psychedelic rock, demonstrating again their distinctive approach that could be so encompassing and still cohesive, purposeful and expressive, with a scope even beyond the 2006 LP. It was an album that genuinely seemed like they put everything they had into it, and fitting, if sad, that they didn’t do another after it.
That’s not to say it couldn’t still happen. Following years of quiet and Dave Houtmeyers and Tom Vanlaer putting out two records with Hidden Trails, Hypnos 69 reunited in 2022 to play the 25th anniversary of Orange Factory in Belgium, and they opened that set with a new song called “And the Spirit Spoke.” They’ve been confirmed for Freak Valley 2023 in Germany this June and Down the Hill 2023 in Belgium this August, so while I don’t want to jinx it, the possibility of their keeping the reunion going and building toward a new release exists. However and whenever such a thing arrived, it would be welcome.
I could go on here, tell you about living with this album when it came out and the surprise it presented even after The Intrigue of Perception and 2002’s Timeline Traveller, or about how my first CD copy didn’t have a front cover and it would be more than a decade before I finally saw the Malleus cover art in person, or just how unrealistically stoked I am to say I’ll see Hypnos 69 at Freak Valley, on and on, but you get the idea, I’m sure. A band worth appreciating, with more than one masterpiece under their collective belt, who creep up on 30 years since their inception with a future that is unknowable in its potential.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.
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Went to sleep last night at 9PM. We had a kind of surprise-for-us party to celebrate my sister killing it as a realtor last night and so I was up what I consider late, though not much more so than the night before. I woke up at 3:15AM, which was an improvement over yesterday’s 2:30. I’m not even sure it matters anymore. The kid came downstairs at 5:05. I didn’t even have time to finish the above and send the three or four emails that have been hounding the back of my brain for the last week.
Tomorrow night, Church of the Cosmic Skull play NYC for the first time. I’m taking The Patient Mrs., because that’s something she should see, but the kicker is we’ll go after already making the trip during the day to Connecticut and back, decorating eggs because Easter, and kid, and so on. Show will be good, fatigue will suck, and New York feels pretty unpleasant to me at this point in my life, but sometimes you have to go. This is one of those occasions. I have an Iron Jinn premiere Monday, but if I can review the show at the show, I’ll post that as well with probably a few disappointing pictures.
That’s part of a busy weekend at end of a busy week. Not sure that matters either.
5PM Eastern is a new Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal. Playlist should be posted by the time this is — if not, maybe I just forgot because today is a 12-post day and that’s just stupid — but it’s a cool one either way, some old and new mixed together.
The rest of next week is full. Ditto week after and week after that. Time.
I’ve been punched and kicked and scratched this morning. I said rules exist. Yesterday while cleaning the house for four hours the popcorn maker fell on my face and I have a black eye. I just tried to stop the shower head from leaking and accidentally popped it off, spraying water all over the bathroom. No one will deliver weed, and even if they did, I’m fucking broke. So fuck everything. Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow. I feel like I’m about to have a fucking aneurysm and if we’re being honest with each other, if I did, it would be a favor to myself and those around me.
Great and safe weekend. Don’t forget to hydrate.
FRM.
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Tags: Belgium, Elektrohasch Schallplatten, Hypnos 69, Hypnos 69 The Eclectic Measure, The Eclectic Measure
Hypnos 69 were so good at the Orange Factory anniversary, played like they never stopped. You’re in for a treat. Looking forward to hearing how CotCS were!
Didn’t end up happening. Family stuff. Was thinking I might drive to Philly for the 12th if I can do a weekday getaway.