Hail Spirit Noir - Eden in Reverse (2020)

For some reason a band like Opeth and their newest Progressive/Psychedelic antics, while great sounding, they usually put us to sleep. Contrastingly, Greece’s Hail Spirit Noir and their latest newfound Psychedelic/Progressive endeavors incite a great level of curiosity and engagements from us. Unleashing “Eden in Reverse”, the band delivers a mixture of their weird avant-gardeness of their earlier days and trippy Proggy/Psych brilliance, perfectly delivered in seven tracks and nearly 45 minutes of captivating music.

The album opens up with the more traditional old-school Prog/Space rock of bands like Hawkwind and Magnum on pieces like “Darwining Beasts” and “Incense Swirls”. While catchy, we didn’t really get turned fully into the release until “Alien Lip Reading” comes in with a certain weird Solefald sounding angle, creating captivating guitar melodies and hypnotic vocal arrangements. This track nicely turns the release into a very interesting and completely trippy experience as it sounds like your old prog/space rock, but with a fresher and more dynamic edge.

One of the band’s standout pieces has to be the lush “Crossroads”, a song that features none-other than Lars Nedland on guest vocals and completely propels the band’s already superbly engaging sound. The guitar layering, funky synths, the pace, and the mesmerizing vocal arrangements make for one truly memorable song that we have probably listened to on repeat more than 20 times straight. After that high point, the band continues to shine with the Kubrick-esque “The Devil's Blind Spot”.

Saving two of their most elaborate tracks for last, “The First Ape on New Earth” delivers crafty chaos and confusion while it closes with the haunting psychedelics of “Automata 1980”. This last track will be quite hard to get out of your mind. Overall, “Eden in Reverse” is truly a unique release that follows the bands adventures in the Prog/Space/Psychedelic Rock/Metal reals, but still retaining their own originality and quirkiness. If you are not afraid of exploring and enjoy bands like Solefald, Age of Silence, and Shining (Norway) give Hail Spirit Noir a try and be ready to be blown away.

Label: Agonia Records

Release: June 26th, 2020

Genre: Progressive/Psychedelic Metal/Rock

Country: Greece