Hebephrenique – Non Compos Mentis Review

Considering the militant sound of certain types of industrial and black metals, it’s surprising that we don’t hear more of the merging of the two. The heyday was likely in the late 90s and early aughts, when bands like Thorns, Satyricon (Rebel Extravaganza), Mayhem (A Grand Declaration of War), and Dødheimsgard (666 International) really leaned into the ultra aggressive and rather combat-ready form of industrial black metal.

Maybe we don’t get more of it because it’s fairly techy music in a normally less-than-tech arena, but man, when it’s done right, it’s a helluva thing. Enter Hebephrenique, a new Australian duo that not only shows a serious understanding of those aforementioned greats on their debut EP Non Compos Mentis, but ups the techy side with a lot of Gorgutsian prog/death, thankfully without losing the phrenetic rage and violence. It isn’t as truly industrial as some comps, but that clinical, mechanical feel permeates much of the instrumental work, which is contrasted gloriously by a truly compelling vocal performance. The vocals ought to invoke thoughts of Attila Csihar, Dave Hunt, and other unique, charismatic, and extremely angry greats, proving once again that personality does indeed go a long way.

“An Insane Cacophony” kicks things off with some of the twitchiest tech of the record, hitting harder on the death metal side with the instruments while the vocals do an irresistible bellow-scream-wail combo that always matches the music, whether it’s a destabilizing dissonant part or lightspeed blasts. It’s a fun track ‒ and full props for naming a song that sounds like an insane cacophony “An Insane Cacophony” ‒ but it’s merely a taste. “The Curse of Biology” really shows what this band is capable of with oodles of intimidating and elite-level riffage (seriously elite-level) and a heightened sense that this stuff is, well, after you. “Homicidal Ambivalence” takes things even farther by adding Azarath levels of hyper-aggression to the mix and the kind of ranting, spitting, absolutely irate vocal performance that you’d expect from a band like Anaal Nathrakh, plus some warbly, Deathspell Omega-like stuff just to keep you unbalanced.

The kicker is that, despite the intro of this review emphasizing militant, industrial black metal, that sound only makes up about 20 of the approximately 30 minutes of Non Compos Mentis (and even then, it’s blended in with the techy, weirdo death). A four minute, ambient interlude takes up some of this extra time (and is a little questionable considering the length of the EP), but most of the less shelling material happens on the closing title track. The song features plenty of blasts and aggressive riffs in its opening minutes, but stretches out considerably as it goes on, sometimes in a doomier metal mode and eventually with soft, melancholy guitar parts and extremely quiet singing. And then it embraces The Haunt, allowing the vocals to do a Csihar-ish groan over soft material before an interview with a mental patient closes out the proceedings. It’s more than a little unsettling, but after all the aggression presented on so much of the EP, there’s a sense of quiet sympathy for our lonely, suffering friend at the end. It might even be a tiny bit comforting in a very odd way.

What does the ending mean? Who knows, but it’s a neat touch of emotional depth on an EP that otherwise seems to embrace a lot of rather antihuman influences. Regardless of the mode, Hebephrenique is extremely capable. When they’re firing at full force, Non Compos Mentis is a black/death shelling that no so-called war metal band can match, and the title track shows that they’ve got the dynamic breadth and desire to do more. A seriously accomplished and tantalizing debut, this one.