It’s always exciting for Decibel to get to premiere a new track from a band that’s been away for a bit, or at least hasn’t released anything new in a while. Queens, New York death meal horde Hypoxia return to the fray with a brand new cut, “Pathway to Charon,” from their upcoming third full-length, Defiance. And after a five-year gap between albums, this is a powerful statement to return with. The newly fortified quintet—Carlos “Dirty” Arboleda (guitars), Carolina Perez (drums), Mike Hrubovcak (vocals), Ryan Moll (guitars), Mike Poggione (bass)—deliver a seething, dark, dissonant crusher with grotesque vocals and a battery of vicious guitar damage.
“Pathway to Charon” is one of 11 new tunes on Hypoxia’s latest opus, the follow-up to 2019’s Abhorrent Disease. Defiance was recorded by the band and was mixed and mastered by Noah Buchanan at Mercinary Studios (Midnight, Embalmer, Nunslaughter) in Ohio. It’s set for release through Selfmadegod Records on CD, limited edition vinyl and digitally on February 23. You can place preorders at the label webshop here or Bandcamp here.
Vocalist Mike Hrubovcak had this to say about the new track:
“We’re all on the pathway towards death, the pathway to Charon! Strap in and hold on; shit’s about to get dark. This is probably one of the darkest sounding songs on the album and I’m happy with the vibe it puts out. Lyrically, Charon carries the dead to the underworld, but the true price to cross into the abyss is not paid with gold or coins, the journey is paid with the personal sins or deeds of the individual. Musically, it’s one of the more memorable standout tracks in my opinion.”
Drummer Carolina Perez offered this:
“‘Pathway To Charon’ was the first song we started working on for Defiance, it was an organic process and it happened while Carlos and I were still living in the same city and practiced on a regular basis. It is personally my favorite song off the album, since it starts slow and gets pretty heavy and brutal and it’s also a great showcase of what our overall sound is as a band.”
