HENGE have been delighting audiences across the UK and Europe since they landed on Earth ten years ago. Their music – known as “Cosmic Dross” – escapes definition, but occupies a space between rave and prog rock that nobody knew existed – going ‘where no band has gone before’. Ultimately, HENGE spread a message of hope that leaves audiences feeling amused and uplifted in equal measure.
Their unique debut album “Attention Earth!” was released in 2018, followed by 2020’s ‘ExoKosm’, which earned media support from the likes of BBC6 Music, PROG Magazine, Louder Than War and Buzz Magazine. Their most recent and third release, ‘Alpha Test 4′, was produced with Jim Spencer (New Order, Black Grape) and mastered at Abbey Road by Frank Arkwright (Arcade Fire, Joy Division, Blur). The record received praise from NARC Magazine who hailed its “stimulating extra-terrestrial sounds” (⅘), while PROG hailed HENGE’s “blissed out, retro futuristic madness”.
With a reputation for scintillating live performances, HENGE have won over audiences across the globe at festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown, Bluedot, Shambala, Beatherder, Fusion (DE), Down The Rabbit Hole (NL), Jungle Love (AU) and more – receiving the award for ‘Best Live Act’ at the Independent Festival Awards in the process.
HENGE’s new album ‘Journey to Voltus B’ was released on January 31, 2025, which is exactly 10 years to the day from when the band gave their first live performance on planet Earth.
On ‘Journey to Voltus B’, the band offers a direct invitation to their audience to join them on their voyage to a faraway planet. After taking off from Earth on “Ascending”, the band get a gravity assisted speed boost on their journey in “Slingshot” before entering deep space in “Hypersleep”.
HENGE then make their approach to their destination in “Descending” before being introduced to the planet and its inhabitants in “Welcome to Voltus”. During the climax of the record, the listener will discover that the aliens of Voltus B have discovered the potential of atomic power – but the fate of their planet rests in the hands of the listener.
Side B of the vinyl version of the album has been cut in ‘parallel groove’ – with two tracks, both called “Power of the Atom”, pressed concentrically to each other on the same side of the record. One track tells the bleak fate of Voltus B after its inhabitants use their new-found knowledge of atomic power to make weapons – with the planet annihilated in war and entering a “Nuclear Winter”. The other track tells the story of the planet’s future after the aliens decide to use their scientific discovery to create limitless clean energy through “Nuclear Fusion” – providing an exultant conclusion to the record.
The version of “Power of the Atom” that is played, and therefore the fate of the planet, is decided by what groove the needle picks up after the listener places it on the record.
The vinyl version of the record has also been made using eco-mix, which is created by recycling the offcuts from other pressings. This more sustainable way of pressing records also has a ‘lucky dip’ element to it, as any combination of offcuts are used to create the vinyl puck, which can result in some unique and extraordinary colour effects.
For more details and to buy tickets visit the Concorde 2 website here.
