Hibria ~ Blind Ride

Hibria

Blind Ride

2011

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Brazil has long been known to be a haven for some great metal bands, there is a passion that comes out of the country that is undeniable. Admittedly, I have been playing catch up on all of the awesome music that percolates out of Brazil, and Hibria is a band that is new to me despite releasing music since 2002. I am bummed that I just heard about them via their latest release, "Blind Ride", because, after a few listens, I NEED to find more from these guys.

Since I have not heard of the band before, I am not going to try to compare them to anything they have done in the past. Right off the bat, they remind me of what Helloween and Nocturnal Rites have been doing these past few years. If you are a fan of Hammerfall and Firewind, Hibria should also be to your liking. The CD is filled with a lot of charging riffs and dual leads, strong and passionate vocals, and a solid rhythm section. The choruses are catchy and a little on the epic side.

What I like most about "Blind Ride", is that the tempo of the CD is varied. The placement of the songs on the CD breaks up any monotony that may develop because of the way that like-styled songs are clustered together. "Shoot Me Down" is a driving fast paced song, with a nice melodic break in the intro. "Beyond Regrets of the Past" is blissfully busy and the double-bass drum is awesome. Lastly, "I Feel No Bliss" is a nice slow song, but it doesn't enter ballad territory.

I can only find a couple small faults on "Blind Ride". Iuri Sanson, the lead singer, has a strong and passionate voice, but on a couple of occasions it sounds strained. While he delivers a powerful performance throughout the CD, some of the high notes seem just out of his comfortable reach. With that said, Sanson does have a killer voice. The other thing I noticed is that many of the songs come off as busy. A small group of people might find this overwhelming, but I happen to enjoy it.

Overall, I was impressed with my introduction to Hibria's "Blind Ride". I will definitely be looking into their back catalogue.

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Live Long and Rock Hard,

SpaceKev

Space Kev's Rating: 8.25 out of 10