Style: Progressive Metal, Djent, Post-rock (Mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: Tool, TesseracT, The Contortionist
Review by: Dave
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 27 April 2024
Ironically enough, constraints on musical expression are the source of some of the most creative modern music. Take, for example, the 8-bit music of the NES. With only five sound channels to work with, the sonic palette is extremely limited, yet NES series like Super Mario Bros. and Megaman have iconic soundtracks with lush atmosphere that still hold a degree of cultural impact nearly 40 years later. Invalid Yellow’s debut, Hendecagon, similarly works within constraints by limiting the number of unique notes in each song: the first track only uses one note, the second track two, and so on. An interesting idea, no doubt, but how good is it in execution?
The beginning of the album is very promising: an atmospheric opening reminiscent of TesseracT’s Altered State gently pulls the listener in and by the end of the first verse, the sound has fully expanded to lopsided djent grooves. Djent is likely the easiest choice when it comes to writing music with a single tone, but Invalid Yellow does remarkably well with it, laying down chunky and kinetic grooves that heighten the excitement between transitions into each new section, giving an immediate sense of expansion in the sonic palette with the addition of a new note. The run from “Point” to “Square” is a perfect representation of Hendecagon’s gimmick given how well it is executed, littered with TesseracT and Tool influences thanks to the chunky grooves and lopsided time signatures, all augmented by Invalid Yellow’s acumen for cinematic songwriting.
However, as “Pentagon” and “Hexagon” introduce themselves, a strange and slightly dramatic post-rock space is entered to not-so-great effect, and by “Heptagon,” my interest wanes significantly. I appreciate the deviation from the straightforward djent and acoustic experimentation found earlier on Hendecagon, but this new style feels too disconnected from the beginning moments. However, this is short-lived: by the end of “Octagon,” we have fully returned to djent songwriting, even including a moment of dissonant chromaticism at the beginning of “Decagon”. I would have liked to have seen dissonance explored more often and earlier in the album, though, as by the time five or so notes are present, the addition of a new note adds very little and would work better as an atmospheric tool used to create dissonance as opposed to a melodic tool, not to mention its use in tying the lyrical themes of self-sacrifice in the name of artistic expression to the music.
The lyrics here are passable overall: there is a loose through-line concerning the narrator’s relationship with a piece of art and how the narrator has to give more of himself to continue adding color to this painting. A strong connection to each number can be gleaned along with a metaphor for self-sacrifice in the name of art, but oftentimes it comes across as too vague. “Line” does the best with this using themes of dichotomy and integrating the lyrics excellently with the music, but songs like “Hexagon” are too meandering, giving me the feeling that Invalid Yellow are including lyrics less because they add to a cohesive product and more because they must be there.
Unfortunately, Hendecagon’s gimmick does not work for the entirety of its runtime. The magnificence of the first few songs cannot be understated, as you can easily tell which notes are being added to the sonic palette and the feeling of “expansion” from section to section is palpable. Had this been an EP that stopped at four or five tracks, I would have been over the moon with this. However, the plot is lost about halfway through as the constraints loosen and become less noticeable, crushing the album under its own idea. I would have liked to see Invalid Yellow lean into the increasing note constraint by adhering to djent throughout and instead using the new notes as a tool for dissonance as opposed to the slight deviation into post-rock we got halfway through. Invalid Yellow have branded themselves as “Taking concepts and running with them”, so I am very curious what musical experiments they have in mind for us in the future. I hope that the limitations will work more gracefully in their favor next time.
Recommended tracks: Line, Triangle, Decagon
You may also like: Hypno5e, Maraton, Valis Ablaze, External
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook
Label: Independent release
band in question is:
– Ben Strange (everything except vocals)
– Max Brayson (vocals)
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