‘Walsen van Hoop’ or ‘Rollers Of Hope’ by the Netherlands based Hexagraf begins with a cough and a distant angelic choir accompanied by over top mournful guitar work. Brutal vocals kick in and an ominous wasteland atmosphere reigns supreme. I’ve seen this project described as Progressive Black Metal, to my ears I would describe it as something like Black Doom with symphonic elements present as well. Fans of bands like Nortt would probably enjoy this, songs are typically long with 6-8 minute length, unraveling as they go.
The second song ‘Koud geslagen’ which seems to mean something like “Cold-Rolled” has a memorably creepy intro with whispered vocals and accompanying acoustic guitar, then the classic Finnish-style Funeral Doom organ comes out. Atmosphere city; population listener. It appears to be a concept album and the cover art fits the overall theme. The drumming is excellent, I thought it was a notably tight performance. Complex fills are executed with style and double kicks are blazing and hammering away. The vocals use different styles, at times whispered, others croaked and often lower register creature type vocals throughout. Guitars tremolo with fury and are very atmospherically inclined.
The third song ‘Om organen te vernietigen’ (To Destroy Organs) starts off with villain energy, then it comes to an emotional chorus where the organ follows the guitar melody and sounds like a centuries old vampire reminiscing about old days like standing on a cliffside. The album closes with a nice final few riffs, and a very depressing and sombre final number that makes me think of a cold winter’s night atmosphere.
