Hexcraft are a Finnish Black Metal act, who formed in 2003, and the originally-titled ‘Demo I/07’ is their first attempt at bothering the ear canals of the underground. Their sound can be characterised by its flat, single-layered approach; extremely simplistic riffs delivered at a funereal pace are the core element, with light, loose drumming present because it’s necessary for keeping time rather than for any technical or aesthetic reasons. On ‘City of Gods’ a cold lead and a creepy bass audibly co-exist with the rhythm guitar, making it the runaway favourite for the title “most sophisticated song”, otherwise this sounds much like a bedroom recording.
The beyond-primitive songwriting and structuring can be overcome with time, as Hexcraft develop their instrumental skills and learn to end a song without sounding like they’ve all fallen over. In its defence, ‘Demo I/07’ has a few nice ideas, such as the Black/Punk rhythmic approach on ‘Necronomicon’ and the dirty, primordial sound of the guitars (I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say this was intentional). Personally I think the vocals might need a re-think, as Thorgrim’s current “Andrew Eldritch on sedatives” approach made me laugh so loud I upset the cat, but he does growl a little on ‘City of Gods’, so progression is possible.
For now, Hexcraft’s output can best be described as Punk-simple Black Metal riffs crudely shaped into tracks, with vaguely ridiculous vocals. However, if you don’t try you can’t succeed, and I have no doubt this band have the impetus and vigour to keep going until they develop the technical skills to put more layers of flesh on their skeletal sound.
