Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Scintilla Project, The
Label: UDR
Released: 2014
Runtime: 53:14
Rating: 4.5/5
It’s great to see a metal elder statesman like the illustrious leader and vocalist of the immortal Saxon, Biff Byford, wade into slightly different musical waters too. Safe waters, sure, and closely related to the turf of Sxon, but still. The Scintilla Project was born out of inspiration from the action-horror flick »Scintilla« and is therefore a concept project. The film’s story peels back the creepy side of laboratory genetic experiments of the kind humanity should never see, let alone understand, carried out in strict secrecy, carefully hidden in the heart of Siberia and, well, I’ll be damned, back in the days of the former Soviet Union.
Byford got excited about the idea of a new musical project while recording Saxon’s 19th studio album, “Call To Arms” (2011), when that album’s co-producer Toby Jepson introduced him to drummer Lionel Hicks (Balance Of Power). “The Hybrid” was produced by none other than Byf Byford, with help from the seasoned Andy Sneap. The first idea was for Saxon to record just one song to serve as musical backing for the film, but the idea later grew into a full project. We did stay with one Saxon song, though. »The Hybrid« features No Rest for the Wicked, which got an »upgrade«, or let’s say an »adaptation;« it’s dressed in a fresh (updated) production coat and given new arrangements, with keyboards playing out theatrical string orchestrations and playing a key role in creating those seething, dark moods. Aired out like this, the Saxon song sounds on »The Hybrid« as if it had been part of the project’s musical concept and vision all along!
The songs are all bombastic, one after another. They all have a hugely dark, eerily charged atmosphere, created by a massive wall of sound built on classically carved guitar phrases (drawing inspiration from the legacy of the NWOBHM invasion bands) and glued together by keyboards that mostly stick to replicating the classic Hammond organ sound, or imitating orchestral string sheets (the opener Scintilla (One Black Heart), Pariah, or the already mentioned closer No Rest for the Wicked).
To cut a long story short: the combination of the seasoned Biff Byford, the compositionally powerful creator Tony Richie (Balance Of Power) and the megalomaniac producer Andy Sneap is practically »heaven-sent«, and every move this trio makes, whether in terms of songwriting or sound treatment, plays out in a glow of great perfection, where in a symbiotic relationship the high musical value of all the compositions, the suffocatingly claustrophobic atmosphere full of villainous theater hanging over the songs, and the combination of bristling metal punch with the virtuoso brilliance of the project’s participants all shake hands.
The songs are, at their core, shaped in the glow of sensible musical parallels with Balance Of Power, since the main songwriter is that band’s bassist Balance Of Power Tony Ritchie. The contour of the Hammond organs adds a touch of hard rock retro sound, while the variety of motifs and the variety in the use of rhythmic signatures, including arrangement-wise detailed middle eight passages, could be interesting even for fans of technically less complex progressive metal. The nine songs bring tremendous motivic variety and full-blooded bombast with theatrical peaks in catchy choruses. Here is good old Biff again with his freshly relived performance, which gathers all the trademarks of his by now thoroughly recognizable Saxon charisma. Of all the songs, you’ll probably expect at least one that pulls toward Saxon. If we subtract No Rest for the Wicked, which is Saxon’s own contribution to The Scintilla Project, that song is Angels. It would fit with no trouble on any of the newer, especially post-millennium, Saxon albums. As mentioned, the stylistic kinship between the project’s music and the musical starting point of modern-day Saxon is big, so Biff can freely develop his well-known Saxon posture in his vocal approach. Combining »Hammond-esque« sounds with guitar riffs draws on the tricks used, for example, by the Star One project of the Dutch musical genius and wizard Arjen Anthony Lucassen.
When you get around to listening to this album, it’s worth watching the whole film »The Scintilla« first. That way the album will dig especially deep under your skin and thoroughly raise every hair on your body in a highly erect pose. »The Hybrid« is a highly atmospheric, theatrically symphonic classic heavy metal album, dressed in top-notch production with big dynamics and organic sonic warmth, which vividly and convincingly »embodies« a sci-fi horror film in music. It’s an album that fans of classic European heavy metal, delivered through the top-tier sound treatment of modern production approaches, simply have to check out.
Lineup
Biff Byford – vocals
Gizz Butt – guitar
Andy Sneap – guitar
Chris Masimore – guitar
John K – keyboards
Anthony Ritchie – bass guitar
Lionel Hicks – drums
Production
Biff Byford & Andy Sneap
Tracklist
1. Scintilla (One Black Heart)
2. Beware The Children
3. Permanence
4. Some Nightmare
5. Angels
6. Pariah
7. The Damned And Divine
8. Life In Vain
9. No Rest for The Wicked
