HANRY – What Came From Silence
HANRY – What Came From Silence
Pelagic Records
Release date: 29/05/26
Review by: Jon Deaux
Score: 7.5/10 (BUT a solid 8 on a good day)
The true art, in my understanding, is not an expression of any feeling whatsoever. The truest of the arts is able to create that feeling in anyone who would dare to experience it, just as the storm creates lighting. It never came to mind when reading Mary Shelley’s work that the creature created was monstrous, but that he had to endure the feeling of unbearable weight of consciousness in a universe that was not built for him. HANRY understand the feeling. They’ve put it to music without speaking a single word.
When someone told me once that all poetry is a record of the best and happiest moments of the best and happiest minds, I disagreed. I still do. The best art is a record of moments when those minds are no longer happy or contented, but simply alive. Her Crown, Her Empire is four minutes of such moments of life. Guitars do not resolve themselves there as much as persist in their play. This difference is crucial.
Time’s Collapsing called me of the memories of the Alpine passes in winter and the unique silence that follows avalanches there. There is hardly anyone who hasn’t tried to capture the feeling for his entire career. HANRY seemed to capture the moment of time during a particularly hard season in Finistère.
What strikes me most forcefully and requires putting down in black and white is the fact that HANRY have accomplished what Frankenstein was not capable of. They managed to assemble something that cannot be seen as an assembly of disparate parts. Their creation is coherent. They believe in what they do and they know that it must come alive.
Formed in 2022, HANRY proved to be a self-assured band from the very beginning. Their debut album, What Came From Silence, gives us a picture of years spent developing their sound. What they have done is impressive as far as musicianship goes. The album is as vast and immersive as the universe, yet, it seems so intimate. They know how to create moments, and those moments have the power to make people shiver.
HANRY has a unique ability to introduce the listener to their world with subtle tension and then to make that world feel comfortable to him or her through silence. The music doesn’t rush. Each note is weighed. ‘Noise Drowns Out’ starts uniquely. The instruments that HANRY uses seem to have particular roles assigned to them, so each of them creates space for the others. The guitars are faint and ghostly, and gradually becoming defined.
In ‘Aurora,’ and ‘Dust Wake,’ HANRY manages to prove their mastery once again. It takes a special skill to be able to sustain that tension in music for a prolonged period of time. The tension in the pieces grows and collapses. HANRY does not resolve their guitars to produce a certain effect. The tension stays in place. Every guitar has a special story to tell.
HANRY should definitely not be confused with other post-rock bands because the band did not choose the same path that others took. They know how to keep the listeners in suspense and make them wait for what the next note might be. They do not try to impress. They are simply building their structure piece by piece, step by step.
As far as ‘Her Crown, Her Empire’ is concerned, it proves once again that HANRY are great masters of the genre. They do not seek any resolution, but only sustain the tension. They seem stubborn in doing that, making it clear that they do not intend to do anything else and that there is no need to.
The bass in ‘Remains’ starts showing itself. This track proves once again that HANRY are masters of the sound. They know how to use each instrument in order to build their atmosphere. “Remains” features the introduction of the cello, which brings a completely new dimension to the music. The cello adds melancholy to the music, making it sound sorrowful yet powerful.
HANRY demonstrate their ability to keep the listener waiting, to make the latter expect something that will never arrive. It’s hard to find better representatives of this type of music than HANRY right now. The album contains a lot of things that make people shiver. I’m talking about ‘Time’s Collapsing’ where the cello appears unexpectedly. It introduces an element of sorrow into the music which, until then, didn’t have anything to do with sadness.
HANRY also expose their mastery of playing with the emotions of the listeners. Once the listener feels comfortable, the band tries to make him or her shiver again. The silence that comes after such tracks is particularly frightening. It makes one feel uneasy and scared as if something huge happened and left its mark forever.
Drums used by HANRY are quite unusual. They are played so that they create a special atmosphere. The music plays with the rhythms created by HANRY. Cymbals are played very quietly, whereas the toms create interesting rhythms. The listener feels the pulse of the drumming and feels how the universe expands with each hit of the drumstick. It makes one go on and on without stopping.
‘Dead Waves’ is another piece of evidence of HANRY’s ability to build the atmosphere and keep the listeners interested without trying to. Their rhythm changes gradually, making the song more tense and making people anticipate the climax. However, it doesn’t come. In the end, the listener gets what he or she wanted to get. When ‘Phantom Rush’ comes along with Mariposa’s piano, we are witness to another moment of genius. The piano adds to the music without dramatically changing anything.
It seems as if the listeners were brought into a different world where everything changes at every moment. One gets used to the atmosphere created by the band and gets comfortable. Then, the band takes him or her to some other place, and then to some other place, and so forth.
In the end, ‘What Came From Silence’ fades out. Just as it happened with “Noise Drowns Out,” the listener finds himself/herself in the atmosphere created by the band, and nothing can be done about it.
What strikes me is that HANRY has done what Viktor Von Frankenstein could not. They’ve assembled something intricate and fragile even the seams do not show anymore.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Noise Drowns Out
2. Aurora
3. Dustwake
4. Her Crown, Her Empire
5. Remains
6. Time’s Collapsing
7. Dead Waves
8. Phantom Rush
For more information:
INSTAGRAM • FACEBOOK • BANDCAMP • PELAGIC ARTIST PAGE
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Jon Deaux and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
