The Deviant Place Theory is the first album created by French Alternative Rock band HIDDEN PHASE. They started this project in 2016 and moved toward becoming an official studio project in 2017. If I was to describe it briefly, I would say it was a gentle and melancholic album but it can pack a punch. It’s not a genre I listen to a lot, but I’ve really enjoyed listening to it for the past couple of weeks.
HIDDEN PHASE is comprised of only two members who so far are completely anonymous. They are known as two identities and across their various platforms have only been shown masked. The music is described as a “hidden parallel project”; now, I have no idea what a hidden parallel project is, and maybe my naivety when it comes to music writing and production is coming through, but it doesn’t seem obvious when listening to their album and their sound. Their whole vibe seems to that of mystery.
The first released track from the album is The Growl. It’s a slow build and takes a while to get anywhere. It also starts initially with some creepy children laughing, which I did not care for, but by the half way mark I really enjoyed the song. It’s subtle and simple but breaks into some cool vocal harmonies after a couple of minutes and becomes a lot more epic and well rounded.
Revelation is one of my favourites on the album; it’s well composed compared to some of the other tracks. The verses and chorus bleed into each other beautifully and the use of their harmonies was really powerful and well placed within the song. It made the song sound very rich.
The Curve of Forgotten Things is an acoustic track which was slightly off to me. I liked it to start, it’s clean and simple but there was a pause in the middle which threw me off. The guitar line was slightly different between the opening and post pause, which made me question if it was two very similar songs or one song which didn’t completely match. It’s still a nice acoustic number, but not one I would go back to listen to every time.
From Hell is my other favourite of the album. It’s slow and creepy, it’s a lower tone and very tribal and ritualistic. The use of harmonies works so well with that theme and they do dark and twisted very well.
Overall it was a strong debut in my opinion. I’ve listened to it through quite a few times and will happily continue to, as well as looking out for future released from them.
Rating: 8/10
Words: Amanda Nicholls
The Deviant Place Theory is out now.
Find HIDDEN PHASE on Facebook.
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