Scanner
Hypertrace

It was 28 years ago that Scanner’s now cult album Hypertrace was released and what better way to celebrate this occasion by releasing a re-issue of that album and also the following album Terminal Earth that celebrates 27 years this year. Hypertrace is the first album by German Scanner and it is built around a sci-fi story that is being told in a non-chronological order meaning that the songs are not coming in the order as the events in the story. From the cover art it looks like a kind of Space Marines story, you know those figures from the Warhammer games. The album has of course been remastered and to make it more appealing to those who might already own the first issue of it, it has one bonus track called Galactos that was originally found on the Japanese edition of the album. Other than Galactos we are not offered that much in terms of news.

The music sounds surprisingly fresh and has aged quite well, build on traditional heavy/power metal with some small touches to give it a somewhat more spacey sound. The bonus track is somewhat different to the others but fits in okay anyway. The production is rather fresh and timeless, sure you can hear that the album was released long ago but there are modern albums that sound way more dated than this, even albums I get to review nowadays. The vocalist for this album only sings on this album for Scanner and that is a shame since he is by far the best vocalist they have had. Other than that we can add that the variation over the album’s tracks is solid and strong and that the playing time is kept short and to the point which might not be that surprising considering that the album was released for Vinyl back in the day. And I find it difficult to say anything negative in terms of sound and production; I think one can conclude that this was a very innovative heavy metal album when it saw the light of day back in 1988.

And it is a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really good album, the small weakness I can see is that they don’t present the story in a chronological fashion on the album but in the grand scheme of things it matters little, if anything. All the songs are great and they come in a logical sequence that adds to the experience of listening to it, one could argue that this reissue could have more bonus tracks to make it more attractive to those already owning the album, like for instance Gamma Rays old reissues that had three bonus tracks each, but that does not really detract from the fact that it is a brilliant album. It is really fantastic and it should appeal to anyone who enjoys power- or heavy metal as it is really a timeless classic if there ever was one in this genre.

I think that all the songs on the album are great but I have always enjoyed hits like Terrion, Warp 7 and Killing Fields a little bit more – those songs are fantastic. It is an album I have kept coming back to and I will not stop now just because I have reviewed it as it is the best album from the Scanner catalogue, by far it should be added. One of my absolute favourites of all time and even if I would rather have seen it reissued two years from now in a really massive release one cannot argue with quality like this and I really hope it gets the attention it deserves at it is one of the best, if not the best, heavy metal albums of all time – without a shadow of a doubt.

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