Hidden Hierarchies

Welcome Hidden Hierarchies to the playing field. This Canadian duo consists of Ethan Moseley and Jeye Daye who perform Glitchy Trip-hop industrial. While they don't do much in the way of putting out an online biography, Hidden Hierarchies has just released their self-titled debut EP two days ago. Inside are five tracks with spoken word vocals. They do have the album available on both CD and cassette right now at a cheap price as well. So, if you really enjoy them, go grab a copy of either (or both) and support the scene.

Anyway, Hidden Hierarchies pretty much describe their sound very well. You'll find glitched out, looping industrial sample based sounds all throughout the EP with a touch of noisey sludge. The music is awesome. Whether it's the factory drone noises found on 'Not Mine' or the gritty guitar sound on 'Liar', I'm sure anyone will be able to find something to enjoy. However, I will argue that the sound can be a little too repetitious. The looping pattern should be broken up by more than just interchanging background electronics.

Vocalist Jeye Daye doesn't do that bad of a job when it comes to the spoken word lyrics either. She has a deeper set of chords that set well against the bleak and gloomy sounds of Hidden Hierarchies. It does sound as if whatever was used to record her voice wasn't able to produce on par quality per the electronics. I would suggest getting either new equipment or some studio time to make sure that the album is cohesive. It's a slight drop out, but nothing too terrible.

So, all-in-all, Hidden Hierarchies isn't too shabby. Yea, I have my complaints about the album, but it's more constructive criticism than anything. The good outweighs the bad in this scenario. HIdden Hierarchies has a bright future ahead of themselves, and I can see them growing fast with a good audience as they mature and develop their sound. - Brutal Resonance

Hidden Hierarchies (Ethan Moseley and Jeye Daye) pull a stunt akin to Portishead in the way they pull different elements together to create something quite original. Here the torchy vocals (Daye) are near spoken, lending a more East Coast urban air, but still not lacking in eeriness. Yes, there’s glitch but the beats are big and bold. The edges are also pretty ragged with industrial abrasiveness. - Ride The Tempo

Considered glitch/industrial/trip-hop soul, this odd five-track piece is recommended for fans of Chelsea Wolfe, Skinny Puppy (really?) Holly Herndon, Death Grips and Helen Money among others. I can probably throw Lycia into the mix if I wanted to, as well as Scream Machine, Dead Can Dance or Rhea's Obsession. Since there's only five cuts here, I'll talk a little bit about each of them. The first one we have is “Not Mine” which certainly does seem to liken to Ohgr soundfont, albeit with a female vocal approach provided by Jeye Daye. It's almost like a robotic anti-love song, which I find quite appealing. It has an electro-pop flair that I certainly find appealing. Then we have “I Remember” where I'm beginning to hear the trip-hop. Once again, we have the poppy, womanly vibe of Jeye Daye here, but Ethan Moseley's programming skills certainly capture the right vibe and mood, making me feel that this record was recorded in our not-so-distant future. “Liar” almost has a hip-hop vibe in the beats, and Jeye Daye even seems to rhyme in the fashion of rhyming. It's still a bit rough, and perhaps her vocals don't exactly meld with the electronic piece (it sounds like she's recorded them in another room, but that usually happens with computer mixing these days, it's very hard to get vocals recorded onto tracks to sound like they were recorded with the track.) Then we have “War Lock” which continues the trip-hop fare. Lastly, we have my favorite cut, entitled “Drone Thing” which brings on that whole Dead Can Dance sort of vibe that I feel these two really excel at. If there's one cut that really caught my attention, it's this one. Hidden Hierachies are certainly different, but I can't say that all of the tracks quite caught my attention. Still, if you're looking for trip-hop friendly electronic music with some trance-inducing drone on the end of it, you'll find something here.

(5 Tracks, 19:00)

7/10 - The Grim Tower