Gareth smothers himself in maple syrup and shares his nuts with a stoned beaver whilst he reviews the new Hyper album…. enough stereotypes in that intro??

Canada has a great reputation when it comes to thrash bands, Annihilator, Exciter, Razor, and now new kids on the block Hyperia, I say new tentatively, because although they only formed in 2018, they are already about to release their third album, the rather impressive ‘The Serpent’s Cycle’. Formed by married couple Marlee Ryley (vocals & lyrics) and Colin Ryley (guitars & music), the band released its debut album back in 2020, the very well received ‘Insanitorium’ and the critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘Silhouettes of Horror’ followed a mere 14 months later. There’s been a few tweaks to the line-up since album number 2, with guitarist David Kupisz departing and a completely new rhythm section in Jon Powers on bass and Aaron Bell on drums (although Ryan Idris performs drums on the album), but this doesn’t seem to have affected the band’s momentum one iota.

What is really exciting about Hyperia, is the combination of Colin’s riffs and Marlee’s unique vocals, the riffs are technical, heavy, and catchy, and the vocals cover all areas from cleans to screams, and she certainly gives other Thrash vocalists a run for their money. The album starts with ‘Ego Trip’ a massive kick to the kahunas, after a classic atmospheric clean guitar intro, before some heavy chug, the riffs spit forth all over the place and Marlee gives it her all, it’s the perfect energetic thrash opener, and the melodic guitar refrain is brilliant. Never a band to hide its humour, ‘Automatic Thrash Machine’ is designed purely for the live environment, and with its amusing, infectious chorus, and pummelling arrangement, it is guaranteed to whip up any crowd into a moshing frenzy. 

‘Prophet Of Deceit’ starts with a relentless and maniacal sounding guitar solo, before thrashing to infinity, another insane, and clever guitar phrase, and yet there’s plenty of melody to temper the chaos. This album is chock full of cracking thrash tunes, whether it’s the catchy complexity of ‘Psychosomatic’ or the fist-pumping thrash and bash of the title-track, with its huge singalong chorus. 

‘Trapped In Time’ slows things down a tad, and Marlee uses her more melodic side to great effect. That slight respite is needed before the absolutely frenetic ‘Spirit Bandit’, one of the fastest songs the band has penned, and even with the lyric sheet it’s a struggle to keep up with the vocals. ‘Eye for an Eye’ is hands down the heaviest song in the band’s repertoire, using elements of death metal, and both blast beats and crushing slower sections are employed to great effect and ups the overall brutality another notch.

Just to counter the seriousness of the previous tracks, ‘Binge & Surge’ is another party song, which will have the pit moving as one surging, heaving mass of sweat and beer! The album ends on a more experimental note, there’s a dark and ominous, black metal influence on ‘Death Bringer’, while the album closes with another inspired cover (Silhouettes of Horror- ended with a sprightly cover of ABBA’s ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme), this time it’s an old Heart classic ‘Crazy on You’ which is fairly faithful to the original, although the thrashed out middle section, while unique, is a bit jarring, but Marlee produces an excellent vocal performance, and it’s a fun ending to the album.

Overall, this is an excellent third outing from the band, they’ve certainly ratcheted up the intensity, power, and the complexity from the first two releases, although I think it does lack a bit of variation and the almost constant barrage of thrash can be a bit gruelling to listen to, but I’m being very picky there. This thrashtastic effort is well worth a listen for any metal fan, it’s fast, technical, and rather ferocious.

Out TODAY in all the normal places!! but BANDCAMP is best