Hexis - XI (2011)

Full Length, Enjoyment Records
December 12th, 2011

Genre: Blackened Hardcore/Black Metal/Hardcore
Region: Denmark

Here's one I should've posted last year. These guys know how to create chaotic and dark vortexes of sound.

What Hexis bring with XI is a dirty blend of black metal and hardcore that comes out sounding like Celeste (if they were more liberal with their editing) mixed with a little bit of Portal's warbled twists in the structure. In the majority of the record they attack you with mounds of down-tuned, distorted, scraping tremolo sections, a thick hazy bass tone, steady drum blasts and a harsh, vile rasp spewed over the bleak twisting madness.

They offer 7 tracks of this disturbing brand of cyclonic atmosphere. As XI opens you immediately get a dose of feedback and then are slammed with a dirty spiraled riff. From there on it's a dissonant journey into a lightless abyss. You only surface once in the course of this dive: a clearing is found during Sepulus where clean notes and chords emerge — this is soon shattered with a return of the tumultuous blackened discord which continues mounting to the very end. Slower moments in Crux bring an almost sludge heaviness into the mix that helps to vary XI well.

It's a powerful record, in part due to the excellent pacing and length of the album (it barely crawls past 20 minutes) so the tracks manage to have staying power and blend almost seamlessly together, while the album itself does not overstay it's welcome. Outside of that it's well composed too. While you could definitely count them in the recent onslaught of dark hardcore like Chromes, Young And In The Way, Black Monolith, Unsacred, etc. Hexis do manage to set themselves apart quite well in a genre which many are starting to become weary with.

Definitely check this record out. These fine gentlemen from Denmark have made this available as a pay-what-you-want download on bandcamp, so please check their page out and give them support if you can by going to their store. Follow them on facebook for all other information

DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)