Metalcatto
I’ll say it loud: Hippotraktor is one of the most interesting projects of this decade. This unique blend of Djent, Prog, and Post-Metal has been offering banger after banger, yet it still feels like the band hasn’t reached its full potential—at least not on Stasis. But maybe it has done it on Annihilist. Okay, maybe you should stay and find out. It’s going to be a fun ride.
This thing slays. Annihilist has managed to make Hippotraktor sound much more profound. The band doesn’t need a long time to deliver fascinating and emotionally rewarding songs that, despite their technicality and odd tempo changes, never sacrifice catchy songwriting. It’s like a 2010s Djent album, but good. The album has an excellent understanding of tension and release within its tracks. The riffs are sharp, the rhythms are unpredictable, and the whole thing feels like a masterclass in controlled chaos.
It’s hard to point out one single great thing here, but perhaps it’s how creative Hippotraktor is within a framework that should be nothing but boring. These guys have taken a lot of familiar sounds but gave them a new spin. Some of those long polyrhythmic riffs can actually surprise us. They even make clean vocals work on this sea of heaviness, but don’t worry—you’ll also get a lot of growling in the mix. Now, time to try to find something wrong here.
It’s hard. I’m only going to nitpick. Annihilist is going to get compared with the older albums, and it’s going to be a tight race. The band polishes its formula more than it reinvents the fire. Someone else might say that the songs could actually be longer to make us more impressed, that they should get more Prog and less Djent, since that’s been done so many times before. But I can’t argue much with these awesome results. The album is a triumph of execution, even if it doesn’t break new ground.
So, Hippotraktor is a weird band. That’s the way it’s going to be. You might as well join the weirdness and witness something really different, yet at the same time similar to everything you know. Annihilist just shows more of some musicians who are so close to reaching their prime. Or maybe this is it. The only way to know is getting another album ASAP. I’m just suggesting it, okay? No pressure. We can enjoy this for a while. It’s a ride worth taking, and I’m strapped in for whatever comes next.
Label: Pelagic Records
Release date: October 2th, 2026
Website: https://hippotraktor.bandcamp.com/album/annihilist
Country: Belgium
Score: 4.0/5.0
