Hypomanic Daydream – Image

It’s not very common to randomly scroll or get a recommendation from the various social media and streaming platforms that is something you truly like. Such was the case however with “Image”, the new EP by Hypomanic Daydream! The cover looked weird but attention grabbing, so I randomly clicked and wow, I had no idea what I was going to get!

Hypomanic Daydream is basically a solo project by Manic Dream Girl, also known as Marie McAuliffe who also plays in the sludge/post metal band Mesa (not to be confused with Messa) and the death metal band Putrescine, all unknown names to me (except Mesa which I was excited before I realized it’s a different band, though equally interesting). The band was formed in Chicago early 2022 and they describe their genre as avant-garde death metal and despite their short existence they have released a split with Homeskin and an EP.

While categorizing them as “avant-garde death metal” seems pretty accurate, I think that this title is very restrictive in regards to their music. The best way to describe their sound is a beautiful mess of death metal riffs, Nintendo-like music and a general cheerful feeling. What’s the last time you heard a death metal album that created this feeling? Cause I can’t remember any. This might sound a bit absurd and that’s exactly the point! They don’t try to sound conventionally “good” but miraculously this is not a disjointed mess, which could easily have been. It is relatively easy to play a bunch of whatever and throw a “it’s on purpose” justification, but here it all makes sense. It perfectly ties with the message which apparently is “Every body is ugly, every body is beautiful. There is no form that is not mutable”. 

I should point out that I don’t feel like I’m the target audience, as I wouldn’t say I’m a death metal fan, nor I identify myself as a gamer. I mean, I had no idea what Nintendocore was before this, and it would have been hard to make me take it seriously. However, I do like music that pushes boundaries and is not scared to embrace the absurd. The cover seems very descriptive of their music, like how an early Death cover would look through a distorted mirror.

In this album you can find riffs inspired by In Flames’ early days and blast beats, combined with both growls and clean vocals, electronic loops, catchy choruses, and some very danceable beats. Add to this weird combination a Paramore cover for the song ‘Miracle’ and you’ve got what could have been a hot incoherent mess. But they all work together perfectly to give prominence to the fact that “beauty” and “ugliness” are a social construct and a matter of perspective. 

If you’re still not sure what to expect from this, and the cover didn’t help for some reason, you can check out the band’s video for ‘Image’, even with no volume you can get a very good idea of the music. I’m sure that this band is destined not to be very famous in the near future, but I wholeheartedly wish they get an underground reputation as they deserve it.