Each day of December this year, I’m highlighting one of my favourite albums of 2024. Counting down the list, we start with #31 on December 1st and go all the way down until we’ve reached #1 on December 31st. Today, #11 on my Album of the Year list: Hippotraktor – ‘Stasis’.

It’s time to talk about some of the most daunting genres out there: progressive metal, post-metal, and djent. Not everyone’s favourites, or so I assume. I, myself, am in awe of this kind of music. Being nose deep into music and also a drummer, I think it’s simply phenomenal listening to the most skilled musicians blast out these seemingly impossible beats and riffs from their instruments. With Hippotraktor’s 2nd album ‘Stasis’, some of the best of what prog. metal has to offer comes together in what is probably the greatest release within this genre this year.

Belgium is notoriously successful when it comes down to this kind of music. Hippotraktor’s debut ‘Meridian’ (2021) is a brilliant album, and so are releases by bands such as Brutus, Amenra, STAKE, and Psychonaut. The latter also featuring Hippotraktor’s Stefan de Graef as vocalist. De Graef’s vocals on ‘Stasis’ are one of this album’s absolute selling points. His clean vocals are like a smooth and comforting blanket you long for while a raging storm is blowing around you, with his grunts and screams sounding like those of a war god, face to face with its arch-nemesis. The sheer power and emotion in De Graef’s vocals are just insane; I’m genuinely touched every time I listen to it. Not to mention the phenomenal drums by Lander De Nyn, bass by Jakob Fiszer, and guitar (+ vocals) by Sander Rom and Chiaran Verheyden, who are absolutely knocking it out of the park on this very well produced album. Credit where credit is due.

I had the pleasure of seeing Hippotraktor perform in Groningen, all the way back in January of this year. Early as it was, I immediately knew this was going to be one of the most impressive gigs I would attend all year. The overwhelming force this band throws upon you during their gig is as exhilarating as it is frightening. As said before, being a musician myself, this is just so impressive. That’s probably why I can’t stop listening to this album. Every song is like a journey on a runaway train on fire. ‘Stasis’ grabs you by the arms and drags you with an unstoppable force along on a brutal journey past sludgy emotions filled with doom and gloom, while not shying from showing you glimpses of the beautiful outside world, too. It mesmerises, but it will seize you by the throat as soon as it has the chance. If you ever needed an introduction to progressive metal: for the love of God, let this album be the one to guide you to the light.