Reviews:

ENNUI MAGAZINE, VOLUME II, ISSUE 11 FALL 1997

This is a really odd release from a consistently odd label. The music of Hyro takes extremes from experimental music and meshes them with electronics, usually in the vein of off-the-wall dance music. The five lengthy pieces that make up Sizen Sineido are quite refreshingly different from a lot of other material presently circulating. The last track is a Hideg Roncs piece included for our listening pleasure (it's also the strangest and noisiest). My only problem is the fourth track which has a complete and total Download rip-off (like they just pressed play in the middle of the tape and did some stuff on top of it), which leads me to believe that there may be other rip off sampling jobs done, and I just don't recognize the source material. Either way, this is a pretty cool album, unpredictable and weird.
Rating: 8 (MM)

Emanating from the ancient lands of Hungary, Hyro has a modern point of view with a philosophic connection to the virtual reality of cyberspace. Sizen Sineido presents five technology driven atmospheres grounded in organics for a full 67 minute experience. Hyro makes an immediate connection with the listener through the groove happy drums, chimes, and melodies found in the opening track, "Hindhub: the Almighty Jah meets alienated human race." The next song, "Syngoar: blue trancear bio-diversified fractalizing space travel" is pleasantly familiar with Enya style flutes and enough fresh beats to make it a masterpiece of many dimensions. The fourth track adds some diversity with a tasteful combination of monk style vocals with steady beats. With spiritual, mystical, and technological references, as illustrated by the song "Metatech: the hacker-yoga enter to the Gate of the gothic-skeleton monster's throat," Hyro creates a magnum opus of ambient goth with and ethnic flair. - Octavia

ROCKET - JUNE 11, 1997 by Kurt B. Reighley

Although this threesome is based in Budapest, the music of Hyro is largely free of any pat Eastern European "world music" trappings. That noted, it's difficult to imagine the listening audience at which this quintet of instrumental compositions - which awkwardly straddle industrial, ambient and movie music without ever settling into a comfortable, or at least assured, groove - could possibly be aimed.

Even before the music starts, cumbersome subtitles like, "the hacker-yoga enter to the Gate of the gothic-skeleton monster's throat," and musical distinctions such as MihlyRcz's role as weaver of the "tapestry of the kaleidoscopic-astral triggering sound" warn that Sizen Sineido promises to be a ponderous affair. Favoring building tracks around exotic timbres instead of relying on such passé crutches as melody or structure, each of the overly-long cuts flirts with an established genre without treading any new ground. The opening "Hindhub," garnished with Indian percussion, suggest Tangerine Dream's lesser moments, while "Matatech" recalls atmospheric Wax Trax! artists such as In The Nursery, and "Mahazid" mates the ubiquitous Gregorian chant sample with canned techno beats. If this is a soundtrack for an imaginary film (the standard party line for such an offering), it's a very muddy, poorly-edited flick indeed.

Instrumental elektro from Hungarian avant-gardists. HYRO comes packaged in this 5 song album. Each track clocks in somewhere between 12 minutes and 18 minutes 40 seconds, so they get big points for pushing limits with song structures. While the music didn't especially move me or amaze me, where HYRO really excels is in overall mood and presentation. As with all Tone Casualties' releases, the artwork is excellent and offsets the music perfectly. A rare feat nowadays. The overall tone of the music itself is one of an almost mood or atmosphere album, or a soundtrack for an imaginary cyberpunk art flick. Essential video game music if I ever heard it. These obviously experienced musicians (and potential members of MACOS, if not already) deserve you attention as does this label. which has quietly and expertly been releasing interesting music by musicians all worth your time.
- Andy Waggoner- INTERFACE

 

Hyro is setting the next trends in trance music with their latest release, Sizen Sineido. Hyro expose their tremendous talents on this CD by combining both the mastery of unique samples and sounds, with a very smooth mixing style. The extreme experimental nature of this music creates a feeling of disorientation with every audio wave kindly floating in your brain. The songs can be described as sounding like Aphex Twin, only done by the artists of Axiom Dub. On the negative side, Hyro does have a nagging feeling that they are sometimes trying to overtake their own music with other sound effects. Also at times, I did have the feeling that I was listening to 2 different CD's. Still, Sizen Sineido has a very engaging sound to it, and its smooth flow makes this a great CD to have with you when your brain is craving something mellow, yet chaotically enchanting.
-DMZ, Issue 2, Vol. 1