Styles: post-metal, progressive metal, djent (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Psychonaut, The Ocean, Dvne, Meshuggah
Country: Belgium
Release date: 2 October 2026

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Progressive music has a strong cerebral draw. Many of us find enjoyment and awe in tracking labyrinthine song structures, parsing odd time signatures and polyrhythms, and following complicated instrumental lines as they diverge and converge. The compositions practically require this—why else sit through some dense, esoteric work with only a few easy-to-grasp moments? I certainly count myself among this cohort. But I’m also susceptible to the profound physical impact music can have. Perhaps that’s why so many of my favorite songs follow the same pattern: a nuanced composition lights up my brain, until a big fuckin’ riff comes in and shuts it off. I instantly shift from contemplative, beard-stroking intellectual to rabid dog, foaming at the mouth and snarling as my mind goes completely dark. From brilliance to belligerence. God, I love that transformation.

And that’s why I love the first two albums from Belgium’s Hippotraktor so much. Their brand of djenty, progressive post-metal provides a blend of graceful complexity and planet-destroying heaviness that sounds as if it were whipped up for me personally. So naturally, the quintet’s latest effort, Annihilist, has been one of my most anticipated albums in a year stacked with major releases. I’ve got my tweed jacket pressed and ready, along with a muzzle. Let’s do this.

As with the last two records, Annihilist is full of introspective passages characterized by melodic guitars, wandering bass, ritualistic rhythms with added touches of percussion, and a mystical inflection in Stefan de Graef’s (Psychonaut) singing voice. The verses of opener “I Breathe. I Am.” and closer “A Different Now,” for instance, are transportive: I find myself in some exotic land of sound, mesmerized by my shimmering sonic surroundings. That is, until the band unleash the full power of their eight-string guitars and de Graef’s massive screams knock me into a brainless frenzy. The heavy moments of Annihilist are straight-up physical. My hair raises like that of a feral beast when the snare and bass drum pattern drops into monstrous chords just past the middle of “I Breathe. I Am.” Similar happens two-and-a-half minutes into “Courageous Apathy,” as my face contorts uncontrollably in ways I’m sure would horrify me if I were looking into a mirror. Suffice it to say, record number three from Hippotraktor hits just as hard as the first two. Hell, just listen to the first thirty seconds of “Builder of Eden” or “Oblivion Walker.”

For a band this good at dramatically contrasting lighter, evocative passages with bone-crushing climaxes, it’d be so easy to write an album that offers little else. Fortunately, Hippotraktor have a greater sense of adventure. “A Different Now,” in addition to the usual fare, has some of the most progressive riffing I’ve heard from the group, along with an almost soulful guitar solo. The title track shows off the group’s softer side, offering a relatively basic hook built upon a melodic chord progression and another lovely solo. “Everything Is Permissible,” meanwhile, gets groovin’ and borderline bluesy at its midpoint. Still, no matter where the compositions go, a penchant for rhythmic complexity persists, keeping the listener on their toes. And in addition to driving the rhythms, drummer Lander De Nyn consistently delivers some of the nastiest fills I’ve heard in ages. All this in combination makes Annihilist immensely enjoyable: it’s visceral, it’s cerebral, and it’s a hugely entertaining listen. 

Zooming out, I’ll admit that despite the different compositional tricks scattered throughout the album, most of the songs do tend to hit similarly. The tracks are generally of similar lengths, and there’s a Hippotraktor formula that’s evident. But the formula allows for such an expansive sound, and the band is able to do so much with it, that it’s not a meaningful issue for an LP running under forty minutes. Also, a few transitions between passages feel a tad forced: for example, the change in tempo just shy of the three-minute mark of “Oblivion Walker,” or the soft-to-heavy switch during Loïc Rossetti’s (ex-The Ocean) guest vocal feature in “Builder of Eden.” This can be forgiven, though, as the band nail plenty of immaculate transitions that are all the more impressive given the music’s intricacy and dynamism. Any quibbles I have with the record are decidedly minor. 

With Annihilist, Hippotraktor have now hit the mark three out of three times—within a mere five years, no less. Few bands are capable of such consistency, and even fewer are capable of making me want to both pensively twirl a pen and go absolutely rabid within about a thirty-second span. Since their inception, Hippotraktor have supplied one of the leading sounds in the burgeoning progressive post-metal scene. Annihilist keeps them firmly in the upper echelon, for man and beast alike.

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Recommended tracks: I Breathe. I Am., Builder of Eden, A Different Now
You may also like: M​ú​r, Obscure Sphinx, Electric Sun Defence, Sikasa
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Pelagic Records

Hippotraktor are:
– Stefan De Graef (vocals)
– Chiaran Verheyden (guitars)
– Jakob Fiszer (bass)
– Lander De Nyn (drums)
– Kristof Du Jardin (guitars and vocals)
With guest:
– Loïc Rossetti (vocals during the bridge of “Builder of Eden”)