Hydrogyn
The Boiling Point

Hydrogyn is a band we like to praise here at Hallowed, the two albums we have reviewed before this one was highly praised – so naturally I was a little curious about this one. The band has been a bit renovated since we last reviewed them and since last time they released something with Jeff Westlake being the only remaining member since then, the rest of the band is new. New life perhaps, change is often the price to remain relevant over time. Slightly over -253°C, that is the boiling point – not of the band Hydrogyn, fortunately for them as they would have a difficult life if that was the case. It is the boiling point of hydrogen; The Boiling Point is also the title of this album that I have been playing franticly in the last few days.

It is not easy to place this album and band in a genre scale as Westlake’s compositions span a fairly wide variety of styles and more variation is added through three covers of songs by Blondie, Elvis Presley and Tears for Fears – they have done some excellent covers before so it is a nice tradition. The new singer Holly is really good with power in her vocal delivery, adding some passion to the songs. A varied album with good depth and fresh songs, it feels like a way shorter album than the 51 minutes it plays for. Compared with previous albums it is also an album that steps forward, it is nice to hear bands that doesn’t keep doing the same thing and want to evolve when making new albums. The similar bands are from the previous review, they can be changed but they have a pretty personal sound and those bands could fit, like the ones we had for the first and a number of other bands, they sound mostly like Hydrogyn and relatively similar to many but not very similar to any of them.

The Boiling Point is a brilliant album with a parade of excellent tracks, lots of hit potential here. The best track is the ending cover song that is kind of magical, but the album opens really well. All tracks on this album are in fact really strong and quite impressive, fresh sound and great feel to it. They also manage to make such a diverse album feel coherent, I also think that they have made the covers into their own songs. I really like when bands to a cover or two, especially if they make something of their own with the covers, and that is what Hydrogyn does on this album. Westlake and his band continue to make albums that strikes a chord with the Hallowed reviewers, I recommend that you have a look at this one.

The Boiling Point is certainly worth checking out, it is a very enjoyable album with great tracks that feels fresh and exciting with a sense of novelty. Apparently, it was wise to change voice and to change musicians as this album gives a sense of hearing a revitalised band with plenty of relevance and quality. Great with a band that dares to risk failure to give us brilliance, it is brave and creative stuff like this that makes this Hallowed endeavour worthwhile. Don’t miss this one, it is brilliant!

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