Hexis will never stop touring.
Since 2010, the Danish band led by Filip Andersen (vocals) has played in an incredible number of countries. In 2022, Debemur Morti Productions announced the release of Aeternum, their third album, with Dalle Oldman on guitar, Luca Mele on bass and backing vocals, and Felix Kothe on drums.
Letum, the first track, immediately puts us in the middle of a storm of darkness with Hardcore, Black Metal and Post-Hardcore influences. The abrasive dissonance remains raw while offering soaring tones, and it will slow down before giving way to Divinitas, a more oppressive composition than the previous one which does not forsakes the heavy and haunting riffs. The band invites the soprano Marietheres Schneider to join them to give the grim and long Exhaurire a majestic break after the desolation has choked us, then Interitus offers very straightforward riffs to make this short composition a real battlefield. Chaos briefly stops, then Tacet offers us new dark and heavy riffs to feed the atmosphere of the shortest track of the album before Accipis takes over with a sick groove. The track quickly becomes catchy, letting screams and choirs abuse us as the throbbing rhythmic progresses to the frightening final which drives us to Nunquam and its heady aggression. Dissonant riffs and relentless screams trap us in their short oppressive litany before Vulnera develops more soothing airy sounds. Whether the introduction remains quite calm, the arrival of slow percussions and nightmarish screams will give it another taste, letting the tempo slightly increase after the half of the track to finally give way to a disturbing final. Captivus is slightly more energetic and reveals faster riffs which combine with the wild vocal parts, then Memento takes over after a slight moment of silence. The track is built with a similar recipe to the previous one, offering some aggressive accelerations which go hand in hand with this dark and saturated atmosphere before giving way to Amissus and its melodic introduction. But soft sonorities won’t last, since they will be crushed by this creeping and regular chaos which uncompromisingly hammers us, only to pass the baton to Aeternum, the eponymous track which closes the album in disturbing, mysterious and ambient instrumental tonalities.
Hexis plays with chaos as if it had created it. I only knew the band by reputation until now, but I must admit that with Aeternum, the tireless musicians surprised and crushed me with this infernal and incessant mixing of saturation.
85/100