Hyro The HeroBound For Glory

When your touring history includes Deftones, Wu Tang Clan and countless other icons, it’s easy to assume the road to glory would be effortless. But for rap rock artist Hyro The Hero, it’s his professional scars and lessons on full display that have ferociously shaped his third studio album, Bound For Glory, culminating in a fiery beacon of strength and hope – and plenty of explosive sonic fusion.

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Flexing his now-established firebrand approach to the realms of hip hop, punk and beyond, Hyro The Hero comes in red hot on Bound For Glory’s opening title track. Featuring Solence’s Markus Videsater, Bound For Glory initially kicks off with staccato strings a la Panic! At The Disco before emphatically swerving into an oscillating chest-pounding anthem centred around mental health.

Up next, a thunderous freestyle ode that nods to the 1985 martial arts flick The Last Dragon and Godzilla, Sho Nuff oozes with razor-sharp grooves, turbulence and Hyro clearly relishing in his natural element before Head Under Water fuses guests REDDSTAR and Ice Nine Kills’ Dan Sugarman alongside moments of pure hip hop and more chaotic fare. 

Whether taking blistering aim at the phallacies of the digital age (Standing Ovation) or channelling Beastie Boys alongside spitfire flow (Renegades of Punk), Hyro The Hero opens his creative throttle into immersive territories, including bringing some bombastic, metallic brilliance to a cover of the 1996 Busta Rhymes track Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check. A track oozing with intensity, Woo Hah!! inherently proves the timeless genius of an artist like Busta Rhymes, while also allowing Hyro The Hero a platform to absolutely let rip in this maximalist revamp.

Returning to more intense yet fluid roots on Bound For Glory, Hyro The Hero adds a fresh bite to the oft-tread realms of rap rock and its surrounds.

Candidly draped in angst and disquiet alongside its overarching sentiment, Bound For Glory also revels in its extravagance and messaging, albeit at times without breaking new ground with its subject matter. But given the human race’s inability to learn from history and the imbalance faced by many on a daily basis, tracks like I’m So Sick and Fight, with the latter featuring Chad Gray (Mudvayne, HELLYEAH), do hit significantly harder even if they don’t necessarily reinvent the sonic wheel. And if you think Hyro’s repertoire is strictly fixed to a certain brand of rap rock fusion, the fireworks of the Skrillex-esque track Legendary, a SNAILS remix also featuring Atreyu’s Brandon Saller, will certainly rattle a few bones just when you think you’ve got Bound For Glory completely sussed.

Returning to more intense yet fluid roots on Bound For Glory, Hyro The Hero adds a fresh bite to the oft-tread realms of rap rock and its surrounds. Blunt, uncompromising, and weighted with real-world emotion, the true secret weapon behind Hyro The Hero’s brand and future longevity is ultimately his ability to ring true amidst extravagant arrangements and occasionally conventional tropes. But when you can craft tunes that rip into your brain and light a fire deep to your core, perhaps there’s something to be said for the old adage: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Bound For Glory is one bound for well-deserved kudos, but more importantly, it’s s a genuine and resounding reminder to never, ever give up. 

STANDOUT TRACKS: Bound For Glory, Renegades of Punk, Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check,
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Fever 333, Rage Against The Machine, Skrillex