After his 2018 Ep, "Erste Beschwörung",DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present HEXENBRETT’s
highly anticipated debut album, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
It
was at the dawn of 2019 when a strange little demo inconspicuously
announced itself from the other side and introduced the sound of the
bloody iris. Titled Erste Beschwörung, it was the first public recording
of one HEXENBRETT, the work of a mysterious duo revealing themselves as
Josto Feratu and Scarlettina Bolétte. This was a literal bolt from the
blue, sounds that were as refreshingly new as they were authentically
old. “Cemetery sounds” is what the band called them, but that only told
half the story. Wild and wily, HEXENBRETT unloaded a dizzying payload of
sounds both traditional and unorthodox, dumping into its hot-rockin’
cauldron spices from first-wave black metal, Iron Curtain-era speed
metal, outsider doom, and even old-school deathrock. It was a
kaleidoscopic spin, and caught the attention of Caligari Records (who
did a wider cassette release) and then DYING VICTIMS with their 12”
vinyl version toward the end of the year. Lots of other, strange-starved
ears picked up on it, too.
The
stage thus set, HEXENBRETT proceeds to defy expectations and obliterate
the slate with its debut album, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten. A
record of stark contrasts, Zweite Beschwörung immediately sounds
definitively like HEXENBRETT: roaming ancient cemeteries with a torch in
hand, conjuring the madness and mysticism of early black metal, when
unorthodoxy was celebrated and no blueprints yet existed – only paths to
be blazed! But, that latter element is precisely where Zweite
Beschwörung takes a different turn, delving into waters both more
refined and more rarefied, more straightforward and more obtuse – more
METAL, epic and outlandish and “true,” but decidedly in an un-metal
manner – beguiling the senses either way, and addictively so. It’s a
turn that’s directly inspired by such sources as varied as Varathron,
Jean Rollin, Danzig, Goblin, and Van Halen, and yet emerging completely
unique and unlike little else around. A diverse journey through mouldy
crypts and deranged minds, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu
töten features eight original tracks and an astonishing cover of Townes
Van Zandt's "The Spider Song".
Quite
commandingly, HEXENBRETT reveal an uncanny knack for songcraft,
building defined and endearing hooks that unfold unexpectedly yet
thrillingly, the intensity constantly rising and falling with
preternatural ease but always in service of the song. Elsewhere, the
band coats its creations with subtle layers of synth, further fanning
that otherworldly atmosphere that laid in wait across the demo while
ragged aggression usually took over. Which is all to say nothing of the
absolutely spellbinding chimes often employed, evoking a banquet of
horror with an almost-filmic quality in line with the band’s love for
European cult cinema. And, fittingly, the production across Zweite
Beschwörung is richly analog, scrappy but shimmering, evincing a
totality of design and just-professional-enough presentation without
sacrificing the entity’s original ethics. Like most first albums should
be, the tale of HEXENBRETT truly begins here.
If
there was ever any question about HEXENBRETT’s singular nature, just
beginning to bloom, simply gaze upon the cover art to Zweite
Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten. All other paths blazed, this is the only
one left, and it’s HEXENBRETT’s alone… The dead will dance, expect the
unexpected!
Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download code.
Special edition on colored vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card, download code and patch.
CD comes with Sticker
Regular MC edition with sticker and button.
Special MC edition with sticker and metal pin.
Special MC edition with sticker and metal pin.
Release date: 22nd May
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