''Hypertrace'' is the debut studio album by the German
power metal
Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...
band
Scanner, released through
Noise Records
Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased any ...
in 1988. It is a
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...
with a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
storyline.
Story
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the military ordered the formation of a commando troop out of seven convicts. With scientific help these seven were trained and genetically manipulated to become a super combat unit.
The mutant soldiers went berserk, and directed all their strength and superior skills against their commanders. The rebels had to be annihilated ("Grapes of Fear"), so they were shot into space, and their rockets exploded, except one ("Locked Out"), which was found by aliens ("Wizard Force"). The aliens taught the mutant survivor to bring peace to the world ("Retaliation Positive").
Track listing
All lyrics by Michael Knoblich. Music as indicated
# "Warp 7" ''
(Tom S. Sopha, Axel Julius, Martin Bork, Michael Knoblich)'' – 4:27
# "Terrion" ''
(Julius)'' – 4:53
# "Locked Out" ''
(Julius)'' – 6:23
# "Across the Universe" ''
(Julius, Bork, Knoblich)'' – 3:52
# "R.M.U." ''
(Sopha, Julius, Bork, Knoblich)'' – 5:46
# "Grapes of Fear" ''
(Julius, Sopha, Knoblich)'' – 3:58
# "Retaliation Positive" ''
(Julius, Bork, Knoblich)'' – 4:25
# "Killing Fields" ''
(Sopha, Julius, Bork, Knoblich)'' – 4:23
# "Wizard Force" ''
(Sopha, Julius)'' – 4:25 (CD release bonus track)
# "Galactos"
''(Sopha, Julius, Bork, Knoblich)'' – 3:45 (Japanese release bonus track)
Track #10, "Galactos" is only available on the Japanese re-release and the metal sampler Doomsday News vol.1. According to Axel Julius, the band's only remaining original member, "Galactos" was not included on the original release because it was recorded during a different recording session and has a noticeably different sound when compared to the other songs on the album. The song was featured as track one on Noise's 1988 ''Doomsday News'' compilation.
The songs as arranged on the album are not in conceptual or chronological order.
The correct conceptual order reported in the CD booklet is as follows:
# "Grapes of Fear"
# "Locked Out"
# "Across the Universe"
# "Wizard Force"
# "Retaliation Positive"
# "Galactos"
# "Warp 7"
# "Killing Fields"
# "R.M.U."
# "Terrion"
Personnel
;Band members
*Michael Knoblich (M.A.J.O.R.) – vocals
*Tom S. Sopha – guitars
*Axel Julius (A.J.) – guitars
*Martin Bork – bass guitar
*Wolfgang Kolorz – drums
;Guest musicians
*
Ralf Scheepers
Ralf Scheepers (born 5 February 1965) is the vocalist for the German heavy metal band Primal Fear. He has a relatively high-pitched tenor-esque singing voice and sometimes uses a shriek reminiscent of Judas Priest's Rob Halford, although it is ...
— additional vocal on "Locked Out"
;Production
*
Frank Bornemann
Frank Bornemann (born 27 April 1945) is a German guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electri ...
– producer
*Tommy Newton – engineer, mixing
*Bernd Schmidt, Ralf Krause – engineers
References
{{Authority control
1988 debut albums
Scanner (band) albums
Concept albums
Noise Records albums
Alien invasions in music