Grimório de Abril - Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

 Released: July 10

It’s sometimes fun going into an album kind of blindly, just to see what it gives you without any preconceived notions. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was quite a surprise to jump into in such a manner. The album is ode and musical representation of a 15th century codex of the same name, which is by most literary accounts a romantic odyssey of sorts. The album captures this rather well in its tone and arrangement. The first track of the album is also the longest at about 23 minutes and gives us an epic introduction to the story in true medieval fashion. There is extensive use of musical sounds from that era to include organs, lute, pipes, and the like, but is combined with some more modern percussion sounds and production philosophies. The very medieval aura about it gives off a lot of dungeon synth adjacent vibes, but the pacing is also bright and upbeat with a great deal of expositional storytelling in the lyrics. Essentially, it comes across dungeon synth but happy and full of wonderment rather than a sense of dread. 

Once the first track is finished and we are firmly in the story, the arrangements begin to morph into more modern sounding pieces. More synths and modern percussion, but still retaining that sense of a medieval market square in which a man with a lute regales a crowd with a fantastic story for the ages. “Polia e Polifilo” feels especially heavy on the wonder as the story continues on and the musical accompaniments feel both old and new at the same time. Deep atmospheric pads find their way alongside flutes and Gregorian chant styled vocal backgrounds. “A Carpathian Wedding” takes us closer to a sense of dread but not quite so. It feels ever so slightly ominous, with just a hint that our story’s heroes have come to the end of their path as deep vocalizations and pianos sing out a tragic tale. Or perhaps it is simply a happy moment expressed in bittersweet terms. Either way, the arranging on this one is particularly enjoyable. 

The entire album feels like stepping into the past while still wearing a pair of shorts and a graphic t-shirt. The use of medieval styled sounds along with sharp modern mixing and a light peppering of costuming synthesis is a combination that works stunningly well. I’m somewhat unsure of what prompted the creation of this miniature epic, but it is a quite interesting listen that is worth playing over again.