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Hexenhammer

Poland Country of Origin: Poland

Hexenhammer
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Type: Full-Length
Release Date: December 28th, 2014
Label: Independent
Genre: Death
1. The Pit
2. Skyline
4. Majesty And Silence
5. Rejuvenate!
6. Foundation
7. The Great Liberation
8. Ophidian Sunrise
9. These Grey Heavens
10. Storm Front
1. Augury Of Ancients
3. A Tyranny In Decay
4. Corridors Of The Consumed
5. Dirge Of All Creation
6. Coalescing The Void
7. In Servitude Of Silence
8. Souls Of Deception
9. Perceptions Of Reality
10. When Eternity Collapsed
1. By The Devil's Hand
4. Masquerade In The House Of Gods
5. Baptized In Blood
6. Black Tongue Lithany
7. Bloodwritten
8. Eight Winds Of Chaos
9. Carnal Apostasy
10. Oath Of The Damned


Review by chrisc7249 on July 27, 2022.

Technical death metal is obviously my favorite genre of music, if you've read even one of my reviews. Melodic death metal on the other hand, not so much, as I have once referred to it in the past as "the lamest subdivision of death metal." I still stand by that. After an amazing introduction to the genre with At the Gates' debut "The Red in the Sky Is Ours," it quickly fell off as I realized just how boring and unimaginative their later records would be, as well as bands like In Flames, Children of Bodom and Dark Tranquility having only one good album each to offer. Alas, it is the subgenre of death metal I've listened to the least of, due to the fact that it's a miss more often than a hit. Now, mixing technicality with melodic death metal is definitely something I enjoy more, with names like Allegaeon, Quo Vadis, Cromm Cruac, Arsis, etc. leading the way. Symbolik is a newer band - well, this is their debut full length, though they've been active for over a decade now - and they're attempting this style with a massive neoclassical flair added to it. We've seen this before, but I enjoy this niched type of technical death metal, and have spent about a year listening to this record. Ultimately, I've decided it's a perfect balance between hits and misses, equating to an only slightly above average record.

It truly is a perfect balance - with 10 tracks presented, I've found that 5 of them are memorable, revisitable and genuinely enjoyable tracks, with the other 5 being, by all means, decent tracks, just not memorable in the slightest. The problem is that "Emergence" doesn't really explore too many different ideas and carries out the exact same formula for each track, which makes for a lot of parts in songs sounding very similar. I can't tell you how many times I would do a double take, especially on the last 4 tracks which are by far the most forgettable, and think to myself "hey, haven't I heard them do this earlier?" I actually enjoyed this album more the first few times I heard it, but with subsequent listens, I realized the last four tracks, along with "Corridors of the Consumed" just would not stick to my puny brain. A lot of the ideas executed on these tracks are just less interesting versions of what's heard on the other 5 songs.

Symbolik's sound, in case you're wondering, is a lot like Inferi, but definitely nowhere near as spastic and uncontrolled as Inferi's later records. These are guitar driven neoclassical songs, mainly carried by the gorgeous and well thought out solos. The bass does not play a prominent role at all, which is slightly disappointing, while the drumming is, of course, fast and complex, but also doesn't ever really shine. I will say, one of the more interesting things to this album's game is the vocal work. They are done by a singular vocalist according to Metal Archives, Chris Blackburn, but the vocals overlap constantly with his lows and highs, and they're usually very catchy. This creates an almost operatic feel to the music using growls, and I can't recall hearing it on another record. It's a pretty interesting idea, and while it does work a lot, it also becomes a liability when vocal patterns become the same on the aforementioned "boring" songs. However, I do appreciate them trying this idea a lot, because when it works, it works well. I don't often touch on lyrics, but the album seems to tell a story from beginning to end, and it fits the music well. I appreciate when bands take the time and effort to do this.

The sound of the album is perfectly fine, it's clean and everything is audible, but rarely do I complain about an album's sound, so take that for what you will. The musicianship is obviously beyond my comprehension, and I still have no idea where all these fantastic musicians are coming from and why they're wasting their talents to make music that a collective thirteen people listen to, but I appreciate that as well.

Overall, I wouldn't say it's a great album. Are there great songs? Absolutely! There are some gorgeous songs on this record, with breathtaking solos and manic vocals that spit out a well written story, backed by insane riffing and drumming. Fans of tech death and even melodic death metal bands like The Black Dahlia Murder will find things to enjoy about this album. By no means are the forgettable tracks bad, I just personally have a hard time remembering them, so I can't really sit here and lie that I enjoy them. That all being said, it's a good enough debut coming from a band with a lot of potential. If they can smooth some of the rough edges and incorporate some new ideas, they have the talent to wow me, and have proved they're capable of writing amazing songs. For now, though, the most I can muster up is a "pretty good, but not great."

FFO: Inferi, The Black Dahlia Murder, Enfold Darkness

Favorite song: 'Invoking Oblivion'

Rating: 6 out of 10

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Review by Arek on January 24, 2016.

Although this album was released back in 2014 it got caught in my sticky for death metal claws in December 2015. All that thanks to the intensified promotional activities of ViaNocturna. Despite the passing of time and due to album effects it was impossible for me to leave this position without a remark. Hexenhammer is the second full length album from the band but it is the first one recorded in a five-person lineup which consists of: Karol "North" Łapczyński - vocals, Krzysztof Kiecana - guitars, Alek Szymański - guitars, Mikolaj "Total" Kujda - drums, Mateusz "Raven" Szymanek - bass. These 10 pieces of strong, meaty death metal reeking of the devil take a little less than 41 minutes but I can guarantee to all metal maniacs that this time will not be wasted.

‘By The Devils Hand’ starts with the speech of the Lord Of Darkness, just like in a good horror film and with the sound of cemetery bells of course. It may not be particularly original, but it’s sooooo meaty. This section, those vocals, they make you want to listen. ‘Children Of Pestilence’ was vocally enhanced by Andrzej Analripper Papież (Sphere, Pyorrhoea, Revelation Of Doom), and video released for it supports the promotion of the album quite nicely. Rapid onset, release, acceleration, breakdown and then acceleration again, here comes another track from the CD, this is ‘We Were Born In The Eye Of The Storm’. Like most of the numbers on the disc, that one is mainly kept in medium tempos with a great melodic theme. ‘Masquerade In The House Of God’ was partially decorated with a movie theme and incidentally, greatly intermixes climate to a piece. It’s a perfect example of production professionalism. In ‘Baptized In Blood’ Artur "Chudy" Chudewniaks (Trauma) throat makes an ‘appearance’. It's one of the faster numbers with a great breakdown and solo in its second part of the song, and the ticking cymbals portend something disturbing. ‘Black Tongue Lithany’ begins with an interesting classical guitar prelude and for a variety; this is the most moody track on the album in which only drum work breaks its convention sometimes. ‘Bloodwritten’ is a fast, less than two-minute shot in the mouth preceded by the Wolf's Hour announcement from classic horror films. Turtle-speed beginning for the ‘Eight Winds Of Chaos’ has a recurring motif and reminds me of the work of Morbid Angel. The penultimate ‘Carnal Apostasy’ is just another injection of blood energy, which, according to a mathematical scheme, should foretell something slower. Nothing could be more wrong, Incarnal is not math, it’s five guys that grew up listening to older guys from bands like Immolation, Vital Remains, Morbid Angel, etc. Marching ‘Oath Of The Damned’ entertains our manic ears with death metal thumps.

So here goes 41 minutes of death metal a'la Incarnal. I know that many nay-sayers will raise a cry, that this album is nothing new, but I have this talk deep in the abyss of my rectum, because, although you can actually indicate a clear influence of certain bands, I know that Hexenhammer is an interesting and honest album torn from honest hearts and guts of these five Poles. I’m with those guys and I will wait patiently for another piece of meaty death metal from them.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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Review by Arek on January 24, 2016.

Although this album was released back in 2014 it got caught in my sticky for death metal claws in December 2015. All that thanks to the intensified promotional activities of ViaNocturna. Despite the passing of time and due to album effects it was impossible for me to leave this position without a remark. Hexenhammer is the second full length album from the band but it is the first one recorded in a five-person lineup which consists of: Karol "North" Łapczyński - vocals, Krzysztof Kiecana - guitars, Alek Szymański - guitars, Mikolaj "Total" Kujda - drums, Mateusz "Raven" Szymanek - bass. These 10 pieces of strong, meaty death metal reeking of the devil take a little less than 41 minutes but I can guarantee to all metal maniacs that this time will not be wasted.

‘By The Devils Hand’ starts with the speech of the Lord Of Darkness, just like in a good horror film and with the sound of cemetery bells of course. It may not be particularly original, but it’s sooooo meaty. This section, those vocals, they make you want to listen. ‘Children Of Pestilence’ was vocally enhanced by Andrzej Analripper Papież (Sphere, Pyorrhoea, Revelation Of Doom), and video released for it supports the promotion of the album quite nicely. Rapid onset, release, acceleration, breakdown and then acceleration again, here comes another track from the CD, this is ‘We Were Born In The Eye Of The Storm’. Like most of the numbers on the disc, that one is mainly kept in medium tempos with a great melodic theme. ‘Masquerade In The House Of God’ was partially decorated with a movie theme and incidentally, greatly intermixes climate to a piece. It’s a perfect example of production professionalism. In ‘Baptized In Blood’ Artur "Chudy" Chudewniaks (Trauma) throat makes an ‘appearance’. It's one of the faster numbers with a great breakdown and solo in its second part of the song, and the ticking cymbals portend something disturbing. ‘Black Tongue Lithany’ begins with an interesting classical guitar prelude and for a variety; this is the most moody track on the album in which only drum work breaks its convention sometimes. ‘Bloodwritten’ is a fast, less than two-minute shot in the mouth preceded by the Wolf's Hour announcement from classic horror films. Turtle-speed beginning for the ‘Eight Winds Of Chaos’ has a recurring motif and reminds me of the work of Morbid Angel. The penultimate ‘Carnal Apostasy’ is just another injection of blood energy, which, according to a mathematical scheme, should foretell something slower. Nothing could be more wrong, Incarnal is not math, it’s five guys that grew up listening to older guys from bands like Immolation, Vital Remains, Morbid Angel, etc. Marching ‘Oath Of The Damned’ entertains our manic ears with death metal thumps.

So here goes 41 minutes of death metal a'la Incarnal. I know that many nay-sayers will raise a cry, that this album is nothing new, but I have this talk deep in the abyss of my rectum, because, although you can actually indicate a clear influence of certain bands, I know that Hexenhammer is an interesting and honest album torn from honest hearts and guts of these five Poles. I’m with those guys and I will wait patiently for another piece of meaty death metal from them.

Rating: 8 out of 10

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