The opening track of Tomorrow We Escape, the new album from Ho99o9, brings to mind an image from Fight Club; a close up on Tyler Durden’s face, shaking and blurred into distortion; “you’re the all singing, all dancing crap of the world”, he says. The track glides in before grinding to a halt and doubling in on itself: “is your love based on possession or… admiration?” You can feel the ground shaking underneath you, reality glitching and shattering, your eyes beginning to blur. Melodic and industrial, Ho99o9 seem to have adopted a new dimension to their music’s structure, once rooted in horrorcore, aggressive punk-rap, it now introduces a new element of production that’s at once fluid, confronting, and ethereal.
Composed of New Jersey natives, theOGM and Yeti Bones, Ho99o9’s third full-length album cultivates a new sound like Yves Klein concocting a shade of mourning that looked like hope. Elaborating on previous strengths, their latest album integrates fresh textures and tonal shifts; dreamy synth, haunting melodies, and consistently tasteful, satisfying drum work.
“Escape” kicks itself back into familiar Ho99o9 territory, ending in a headbanging, adrenally charged breakdown. Futuristic synths reminiscent of a Philip K. Dick novel open “Target Practice”, a breathless, exhaustive interlude fueled by its own daunting momentum and analogue synths. The next track “OK, I’m Reloaded” is a supersonic explosion of sound and aggression that launches its rage externally through blown out nu metal guitars and screamed lyrics: “I am upset with the human race”.
“The first half is heartbreak,” theOGM noted about the album. “These are the sides of us you don’t normally see.” That heartbreak also includes the current socio-political climate. Ho99o9 are famous for their unfiltered rebellion and incendiary political commentary, and with the world in turmoil, especially against the backdrop of America. Tomorrow We Escape is no exception.
Moving into the second half, “Incline” opens like a Morse code transmission, its rhythm similar to a sped-up “Fragment 9” by Accurst. The track charges up like a racecar, revving up with each breath, gaining momentum in the verses from guests Pink Siifu, Nova Twins and Young Skrrt. Heaven is upside down in the next track, a hard-hitting Dillinger Escape Plan-esque emo-rock with emphasis on entrancing melodies, twisting itself into liberation at the end.
Dillinger’s own Greg Puciato features on the following track, “Tapeworm”, charging the album with a delicious fire-tornado core that radiates desperation and rage in equal measure. Most enthralling is the ending, where “Tapeworm” brings back a nostalgic emo sound supercharged with hyper-focused high-octane drums maintaining themselves as the centrepiece throughout the track. The energy accumulates into an exhaustive bridge, distorted screams layered over an ominous countdown.
Existing somewhere in the depths of an ocean, dampened by the weight above it, and obfuscated by the distances surrounding it, “Immortal” rings out with Chelsea Wolfe’s haunting and ethereal vocals, chanting like a ghost’s rumination. Just as Wolfe drops the obsession she was clutching at, and leaves it to sink, Yeti Bones picks the remains of the track back up again and brings it all back up to the surface. The weight of the matter persists, however, as Wolfe’s vocals trail off, “In this world of madness…” like a face, twisted and obscured, sinking to the depths.
An irresistible thrasher for the pits, Ho99o9 return to their politically cynical roots in the “LA Riots”. The track transitions soundly from the previous one which had just dwindled into collapse, blinking with warning before exploding into something anarchal and urgent, shouting “Revenge I smell / revenge I bleed”.
Undeniably their most vulnerable and exposed album to date, Tomorrow We Escape sees Ho99o9 infuse an ethereal, melancholy softness into a sound they’d already established and mastered. Tempering their usual adrenalised hardcore hip-hop, punk-metal sound with elements of the industrial and futuristic, they simultaneously intermingle acoustic and melodic elements, like a color combination that shouldn’t work, but does. Centered on introspection and outward dissatisfaction, Tomorrow We Escape lures you in like a siren, traps you like a wild animal, throws you, drops you, stops… and starts again, just to see if you’re still listening.
