ALBUM REVIEW: Henge – Alpha Test 4

Cosmic Dross

Released: 26.05.23

Since landing on Earth seven years ago to share their cosmic dross with us humans, we’ve experienced the squelching synths and prog melodies of Henge, aka Zpor, Goo, Grok and Nom, on two previous releases. Alpha Test 4 marks the third collection of stimulating extra-terrestrial sounds, including the electro banger Get A Wriggle On, which warns us about our planet’s imminent climate crisis.

There are melody-melting odes to malfunctioning robots (Self Repair Protocol), trippy tunes about discovery (Wanderlust and Altered State) and a loving tribute to the one of the universe’s hardiest creatures (Tardigrades). Some may dismiss this as silly space rock, but as Henge’s own research shows, as they’ve fine-tuned their mangled sounds and optimised their alien frequencies, the Sapien brain can effectively access more pleasure with each new release. This Sapien brain concurs.