Hoplites is a one-man Chinese black metal/hardcore band that emerged out of nowhere and proceeded to release three full lengths over the course of 2023. I thought each release was slightly better than the last, but none of them really had memorable moments, instead feeling like an aimless jam session each time that threw elements at the wall to see what stuck. The newest album, Paramainomeni, still has some of those kitchen sink elements, but feels a lot more focused than previous efforts. From elements of total chaos to moments of calm, this album throws a lot of different things at the listener all at once. A huge new addition to Hoplites’ sound is the ever prevalent saxophone, and it deviates between dissonant skronky passages to more relaxed, jazzy sections. For example, opener “Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεὰ παραμαινομένη ἐμοῦ…” (Minin aeide, thea paramainomeni emou…) starts off relatively light with bouzouki plucking, and rhythmic Greek spoken word over a ritual drum before all the chaos is unleashed, taking the listener along with it for a wild ride of bonkers sax passages, ferocious riffs, and sole member Liu Zhenyang‘s (also of Vitriolic Sage) rasps and shrieks. The chaos lasts for about ten minutes, and surprisingly, none of those feel wasted.
Other highlights on this album are “Παραδειγματιζομένη μουσική” (Paradeigmatizomeni mousiki) and “Συμμαινόμεναι Διονύσῳ Ἐλευθέριῳ II” (Symmainomenai Dionyso Elefterio II). The former features a really neat passage where Zhenyang screams “PARADEIGMA” over and over with short breaks to jam out on the aforementioned saxophone (not in a chaotic, unrestrained fashion, but more in a melodic fashion) and the latter features the single coolest section on Paramainomeni as a whole: synth bits in combination with guitar and sax solos to create a killer closing passage to the album. Unfortunately, this album is not great; there’s still the aimless parts I thoroughly dislike about this project, and there’s bloat. While Hoplites has gotten better about focusing on songs to make them more cohesive, this is his longest effort to date, and it makes itself known. The third and fourth track especially suffer as a result of this lack of self-editing, and that’s the most frustrating part about this whole affair. The last track would be better if cut down, too, as most of it is aimless bouzouki plucking. This is Hoplite‘ best material to date, though. Songs are fun, mostly memorable, and he’s not afraid to experiment with different ideas. Hopefully there’s a more well-constructed album for attempt number five, because there is a lot of potential here.
