AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: HEBEPHRENIQUE — “VISIONS OF MAGDALENE”

(written by Islander)

“Think Gorguts by way of Mayhem, filtered through Anaal Nathrakh’s violent theatrics and a heavy dose of dystopian dread.” That’s part of how Gutter Prince Cabal and Brilliant Emperor Records vividly preview Decathexis, a new album from the Australian band Hebephrenique that those labels are set to release on August 23rd. And there’s more:

“Decathexis is a whirlwind of spite-fueled vocals, mechanical precision, and hypnotic ambience, anchored by songwriting that hurts as much as it surprises. It’s more technical, more aggressive, and somehow even more unstable than their acclaimed EP [Non Compos Mentis], a deeper dive into madness and alienation.”

At first blush it’s hard to believe that the new album could be more aggressive or destabilizing or disorienting than that 2023 EP. When we premiered it, we frequently resorted to words like “insane,” “crazed”, “kaleidoscopic”, “diabolical”, and “dazzling”. We analogized it to a theater of devilish carnivals set in hellish asylums and a labyrinth of lunatic splendors.

We further wrote that “it’s also one of the most fascinating and engrossing records we’ve heard this year, and it marks the advent of a remarkable new talent that we hope will return with more madness soon.” Now our wish is coming true. As a first sign of what new madness comes our way we’re premiering a video for “Visions of Magdalene“, the first single from Decathexis.

Let’s first discuss what you’re about to hear, and then turn to what you’ll see.

We’ve been given this comment about the song: “A hallucinatory spiral into violent delusion and erotic guilt, ‘Visions of Magdalene‘ contorts sacred imagery into a fever dream of psychosexual torment — a searing convergence of dissonant fury, ritualistic rhythms, and the fractured ecstasy of spiritual collapse.”

The song is indeed a hallucinatory spiral and a sonic fever dream, and as promised it’s delivered with impressive technical skill. Across its constantly contorting aural spectrum it delivers brightly ringing guitars whose dissonant permutations create sensations both bizarre and psychotic, sometimes frantic and sometimes wandering, as well as drumming that veers from furious blasts to vertebra-popping smacks and much else in between.

The music also rapidly shifts into many other phases that include compulsively headbangable riffage, spidery fretwork swarms, angular convulsions, and chilling dreamscapes backed by booming ritualized beats.

Astoundingly, given the elaborate freakishness of the guitar outbursts and the equally attention-seizing drum escapades, the mercurial basswork has a place of prominence and often comes close to stealing the show. Moreover, the vocals contribute moods of rabid savagery and unhinged agony to this mind-bending affair, expelling the words in vicious growls and wretched cries.

All in all the song again proves Hebephrenique‘s talent for creating fast-changing and often bewildering musical kaleidoscopes. Their attraction to the surreal is undiminished, and their free-wheeling inventiveness is if anything even more “out there.”

And now let’s turn to the beautifully made and entirely fascinating video. We’ll share these comments we received about it from the labels or the band (not clear which):

A feverish descent into the fragmented corridors of the human mind, “Visions of Magdalene” manifests as a cinematic psychosis — a visceral collision of image and sound that projects mental illness in its rawest, most physical form. Each frame convulses with the volatility of the psyche in collapse, as individual characters embody distinct psychological disorders, transforming the abstract into the corporeal, the clinical into the grotesquely surreal.

Through frantic pacing, jarring edits, and unsettling symbolism, the film clip mirrors the bipolarity of inner chaos — swinging between moments of violent intensity and numb dissociation. It aggressively confronts the viewer with the unrelenting nature of psychological suffering, portraying psychosis, mania, delusion, and existential dread with disturbing honesty.

Within its cryptic visuals lies a study in depravity and distortion — the spiritual degradation of a mind caught in recursive torment, haunted by the phantom of Magdalene as both muse and martyr. The result is not just a music video, but a visual seizure: relentless, immersive, and harrowingly human.

So, you’ve been warned, and hopefully become intrigued. Now see and hear for yourselves:

Brilliant Emperor and Gutter Prince Cabal will release Decathexis on vinyl LP, CD, and digital formats, and they recommend it for fans of Gorguts, Dødheimsgard, Deathspell Omega, Thorns, “and feeling like your brain is melting in a dream you can’t wake up from.”

PRE-ORDER:
https://brilliantemperor.bigcartel.com
https://brilliantemperor.bandcamp.com/album/decathexis
https://hebephrenique.bandcamp.com/album/decathexis

HEBEPHRENIQUE:
https://hebephrenique.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/hebephrenique

GUTTER PRINCE CABAL:
https://www.gutterprincecabal.com
https://gutterprincecabal.bandcamp.com

BRILLIANT EMPEROR RECORDS:
https://www.facebook.com/BrilliantEmperorRecords
https://www.instagram.com/brilliantemperor