HEXENHAMMER
Divine New Horrors
(Twilight Vertrieb)
35:53min

So – according to one review on HEXENHAMMER’s website – this is an act to be aligned with other superb German formations such as NECROPHAGIST, GOLEM and the likes? Oh well, this probably is a bit far-fetched I would say. I mean check out the former outfit and compare their sheer technical musicianship which they constantly progress with the present act. No, this is an awkward comparison. One can state that HEXENAMMER’s musical vision is solid and has an ok-ish production. They remind me a bit of VADER when they have these fast staccato guitar riffs, there is minor tapping here and there which provokes CANNIBAL CORPSE recollections straight away, of course. HEXENHAMMER have a lot of Thrash-influences regarding guitar-strokes and the drums. Basically this is a very straight-forward outfit with some technical indications. One thing that generally annoys me is the fact that people stand in awe when a drummer hits his cymbals based on some slightly varying patterns or the guitarists play some tapping figures – geee, this is not what technicality is constituted by. In any case – this is a substantial production that doesn’t have the usual extremely annoying traits of German outputs. HEXENHAMMER really sound professional and acoustically sophisticated. On this record you’ll find blast-beats as well as vile lava-riffs (MORBID ANGEL parallels), the vocalist’s voice isn’t too extreme – sort of mid-ranged, one can detect loads of interesting guitar elements here and there, especially in a rhythmic respect. As mentioned above, this is solid work – but, according to my taste, all a bit heterogeneous. There are too many mediocre elements connecting some really cool components like in ‘Tortured Existence’ (cool CANNIBAL CORPSE tapping quotations) or a bit of VADER-ish lines in ‘Hell Force One’. On the whole, I miss evilness and spirit – two constituents that determine real Death Metal for me. Website: www.hexen-hammer.de.

F. Cthulhu E.

F. Cthulhu E.

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