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Sutekh Hexen

Sutekh Hexen & Funerary Call – P:R:I:S:M (2023)

The long running Canadian Funerary Call teamed up with the relatively new American band Sutekh Hexen. In three decades, Funerary Call went from “ritual music” to dark / ritual ambient to more noisy material and soundscapes. Sutekh Hexen goes from experimental doom to blasting black metal and also an occasional soundscape. What would the combination bring?

The opening track is a soundscape with a noisy start. Other tracks can also be described as “soundscapes” or sometimes perhaps “noisescapes”. Some tracks are dark and tranquil. At other times the tracks are more noisy. Mostly, there are stretched sounds and vocals giving the material a bit of a ‘ritual feel’. Here and there there is a blast. There are not many metal elements. In the opening track there is some guitar and in “Towards The Eastern Gate” screeching guitars set in about half way, but I would not have mind if that happened more often.

The album is descent, but not the best material of either project in my opinion.

“P:R:I:S:M” has eight tracks and almost 54 minutes running time. The album comes on cd, double lp (red or black vinyl) and through digital means.

Links: Sutekh Hexen, Funerary Call, Cyclic Law

Sutekh Hexen – s/t (2019)

  • metal
Discogs.com

I do not listen to metal a whole lot. There are a few styles that I (sometimes) enjoy, such as old-school thrash, but for a while I have been sifting through doom metal a bit. I am no fond of the depressive type, but the (often even slower) “funeral” genre (and related) have some bands that I enjoy every once in a while.

There are also bands that blur the lines between electronic music and doom metal which sometimes results in interesting music. Khost, The Body, Author & Punisher, these type of bands.

Of course the name Sutekh Hexen came along in these searches. I never really listened to them though. I remember hearing tracks that are ‘too metal’ for my liking and more interesting tracks with electronics, or at least a noise-type approach. And then Cyclic Law sends a promo of a forthcoming album (end March 2019). A good excuses to listen to this American outfit a bit more attentively.

There are black metal like vocals, high-pitched guitars, but then to make ‘noisescapes’, “ambient metal” so to say, but dark and oppressive. When compared to industrial or noise music, the sound is pretty ‘wall-of-noise’.

There are several such bands whose vocals I do not like (those of The Body are downright annoying), but in Sutekh Hexen they fade a bit into the guitar noise most of the time. In doom metal I best like instrumental tracks still, but this new album of Sutekh Hexen is a good one in the style. I need to listen to some more material of this band. I now see that they even have a split with Trepaneringsritualen.

Even though there are over a dozen of previous releases, this latest album is “self titled”. It will come on CD and 2LP and batter your ears for almost 55 minutes.

Links: Sutekh Hexen, Cyclic Law