Band:	Trepalium
Album:	H.N.P.
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	June 08, 2012
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Heic Noenum Pax
02. Prescription Of Crisis
03. S(l)ave The World
04. Order The Labyrinth
05. Insane Architect
06. Let The Clown Rise
07. (A) I Was (S)
08. The Worst F(r)iend
09. Raining Past
10. I'm Broken [Pantera cover]

You've heard a couple hundred death metal albums, you think you've heard them all, aside from maybe some of those death-[insert gimmick sound here] type bands. Meet Trepalium, a band of considerable ingenuity without resorting to gimmicky bullshit. Just really offbeat death metal.

What makes H.N.P. such an impressive piece of work is just how well-rounded the whole thing is. It's aggressive yet clear, catchy but not dumbed-down, and intelligent without breaching pretentiousness. Basically, take some of the technical proficiency of Obscura, then throw in some Gojira-worthy groove. That's just scratching the surface, the variation and eclecticism is almost immeasurable here. Such a wide array of combinations almost demands a prog-like delivery, and that's where things get really weird. This isn't a prog album, nor is it one of those constantly shifting mathcore type albums. This album is basically the antithesis of repetition, yet the riffs always resonate, and they always wrap things under 5 minutes.

Variety meets brevity, that's what this album is about; "Heic Noenum Pax" is that groovy tech-death mentioned earlier, the main riff from "Order Of The Labyrinth" sounds like something that would be at home on Opeth's Blackwater Park, "I'm Broken" sounds like something Down would put out, while "Insane Architect" has its own brand of funkiness. Yet despite being so eclectic, H.N.P. is an incredibly cohesive album. Though they do borrow a few different sounds, it never sounds like imitation, but rather interpretation.

Death metal as varied as this only comes around once in a while, don't miss out!