HENGE have always thrived at the intersection of absurdity and earnestness, and their fourth full-length, Journey To Voltus B, released via Cosmic Dross Records/Rough Trade, crystallizes that duality into a cosmic carnival of prog theatrics, rave-fueled propulsion, and tongue-in-cheek futurism. Where earlier albums established the band as psychedelic jesters draped in intergalactic myth, this new record doubles down on narrative ambition: a full-fledged concept opera chronicling humankind’s voyage to a distant world on the brink of atomic discovery.
The album’s arc mirrors a space expedition. Opener “Ascending” sets the tone with thunderous drumming, arcade-like synth squalls, and vocoder vocals that sound both menacing and playful, as though Kraftwerk had crash-landed at a rave. “Slingshot” injects ska-like rhythms and spaghetti-western guitar twang, jettisoning the crew beyond Earth’s pull with gleeful swagger. “Hypersleep” drifts into dreamlike ambience, its lullaby textures offering the record’s first breath of stillness before the turbulence of “Descending,” a jittery instrumental that mimics the anxiety of atmospheric reentry. By the time “Welcome to Voltus” explodes in rave-fueled percussion and glittering synths, the sense of extraterrestrial celebration is undeniable—like Daft Punk remixed for a festival on a distant moon.
Side B is where HENGE deliver their most audacious trick. The vinyl edition is cut with parallel grooves, meaning listeners encounter one of two outcomes at random: a utopian “Nuclear Fusion” ending, where scientific progress yields sustainable energy, or a dystopian “Nuclear Winter,” complete with sirens and doom-laden drones. Both versions begin with “The Power of the Atom,” a prog-rock pivot that mutates according to fate. It’s a brilliant physical gimmick that reinforces the album’s thematic stakes—the fine line between creation and destruction, optimism and apocalypse. While the CD and digital versions inevitably flatten that choice into linearity, the concept still resonates, a sly commentary on how small decisions (even the path of a needle) can alter history.
Musically, Journey To Voltus B may be HENGE’s most coherent statement. Their trademark eccentricities remain—8-bit squeals, vocoder chants, relentless synth arpeggios—but here they feel less like random indulgences and more like instruments in a well-scored cosmic opera. At times, the record recalls the maximalist futurism of late-’90s big beat, at others the improvisatory chaos of Hawkwind or Sun Ra, but always with a wink. Not everyone will stomach the band’s cartoonish aesthetic or their gleeful cheesiness, but that tension is precisely the point. HENGE offer both parody and sincerity, a reminder that the line between jest and prophecy is as thin as a vinyl groove.
With Journey To Voltus B, HENGE have crafted an album that is as much about format and storytelling as sound. It is a choose-your-own-adventure pressed into wax, a rave opera dressed in space rock garb, a serious joke with consequences. Love it or loathe it, the record affirms HENGE as rare tricksters in today’s rock landscape—aliens who understand that the future of music may lie in embracing both silliness and grandeur with equal commitment.
