CD Reviews

• http://deadmansheadphones.blogspot.com
  I have the seemingly unique advantage going into Hexxed's "The Synapse Collision" of being barely familiar with their previous work, bar their 7" of a couple of years ago.
  
  I know they've been around a while, l I know there were demos, I saw the early line up live at least once at Warzone fest years ago and they killed it; but their recorded work is completely unkown territory to me for the most part, and while I know the general area their previous incarnation operated in (latter day Death/Pestilence/Gorguts style technical death metal from what I recall), I can't claim to have an intimate knowledge of it. Perhaps I should rectify that. However, for now as I say this would prove to be an advantage in so far as I therefore don't have a whole lot of preconceptions about their band and can approach this new recording, their first without former guitarist/vocalist Ciaran Tracey, with a mind relatively free from preconception. Going on discussion of this on the Metalireland forum (run by CT ironically enough), those who were fans before seem to generally love or hate this new incarnation. And that's putting it mildly.
  
  I'm going to tell you right now, straight up that I thought this was an absolute stinker on first listen. And on second listen for that matter. By the third it was starting to sound okay. After two days using it as a commuting soundtrack, it had lodged itsself firmly into the "it's okay but it would be so much better if..." camp, and that's where it currently resides.
  
  For the most part it retains some of the elements I vaguely emember from my limited exposure to them in their past life - the aforementioned Death influence is still very present and yields some fine Schuldinerian guitar melodies that could have appeared on "Spiritual Healing" or "Human". There are also some clear hints of Carcass around the time of "Heartwork", but the band that come most to mind listening to "The Synapse Collision" is their Dublin based forerunner The Fifth Dominion (a name that will have the few non-Irish readers among you sighing a baffled "who they fuck are they?" at your monitor). It's heavy on the double-bass drive and Hexxed in 2010 seem far more interested in headbanging, memorable riffage as they proceed along through the album at a fair to middling pace, never returning to the warp factor this genre usually resorts to. Their use of that undefinable entity we can only call "the groove" is, in that regard unparalleled locally right now. In places it would be easy to picture some of these songs blaring across the ether at a Hellfest or even Download style event, the crowd tossing their manes in unison in a field somewhere while waiting for a bigger opening act. Having said that, I'm fairly certain a big muddy field full of cider swilling metal kids is the last place Hexxed would deem suitable for their music, given as it is to more ambitious and esoteric leanings.
  
  
  
  But while they may have those catchy riffs and a sense of tight rythmic propulsion in full effect, there are other elements of this that have repeatedly set off that weirdy, farty sounding "NUH UHHH" claxon inside my head that sounds like the noise you hear when someone gets something drastically wrong on an episode of "Family Fortunes". The most offensive thing to my delicate, eaily annoyed little ears on this recording, and hence the one to be dispatched firstly, are the vocals.
  
  According to the sleeve notes, there are three vocalists on this record. I can't for the life of me tell you who's who, which fortuitously prevents me from singling out any one in particular for abuse, but boy, the vocals on this are weak. I'm referring especially here to harsh vocals believe it or not - there sounds very much like there are two people alternating these, and to be honest neither of them possess the strength or nastiness in delivery that it feels like they should have.
  
  The clean vocals which show up from time to time are nice, but the dude's jarring Layne Staleyisms on "Critical Mass" actually make me genuinely angry to the point where I could punch someone. Ever stood in a crappy club watching the local bog metal band attempting to cover "Man in the Box"? You have? Okay, know the way the singer in that band feels compelled to throw in those "Heeeeeeeeey yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh aaaaaaawwwwwwwlriiiiiiiiiiight" style interjections in some sort of confused belief that he is actually Layne Stayley ? Yeah, well the start of this song sounds like the rest of the Hexxed lads were jamming away when that guy just burst into the studio and decided to join in unsolicited. I realise I'm totally making a mountain out of a molehill here as the appearance of this is fleeting, but I seriously cannot fucking bear it.
  
  
  Going back a sentence or two though, you'll notice I use the word "fragment" instead of "song" here, and that leads me to a caveat I should point out with regard to this recording. While I realise there's a heavy, Magic themed concept at work here and a story to be told, the music is formatted into these fragmented short pieces or movements seemingly arranged around the lyrics - not a bad idea per se but to be honest it feels at times like the lyrics may have taken precendence over the music. Prime example? Musically, the instinct is to ask was there really any need for "Rewire", "Unearth" and "Channels" to be listed as three seperate songs? It sounds very much to me like it's one piece of music, not three. For a band who open with a song entitled "Engaging The Flow" (which establish the main themes reused later in the "Perceptions Derailed"/ "The Aetheric Plane" which again feels very much like one song split needlessly into two individual parts), Hexxed might seem on first glance to be aiming to disrupt their own flow in this way.. but I'm presuming the arrangement of tracks into these smaller fragments is to denote them more as subsections of one work rather than individual songs - sort of pins in a map if you will.
  
  
  I am, true to form, reading too much into minor flaws and perhaps overemphasising negatives of course. In the long run the sum of "The Synapse Collison" is pretty much greater than the parts I'm breaking it down into, and on my latter point I'm merely making an observation with regard to my own perception of the work rather than the bands' own. This is definitely a good record. This is probably a record I will still be listening to in 2 or 3 years time, even if I do skip a track or two. I don't necessarily think musically however, that this is a "challenging" as some have made it out to be - the two sample/noise based pieces ("The Electric Mind Pts 1&2)" and the occasional drift into quieter or more melodic fare in some sections aside, it's really the layout of the music rather than the actual sounds that's the challenge to the listener, and the more death metal inspired parts that make up much of it aren't really all that groundbreaking to these ears. I appreciate and respect overall this shift in gears for Hexxed, and this sense of adventure - but I wish they would apply this need to challenge themselves to the more balls out metal elements too as it's the one aspect that's noticeably rigid in their otherwise increasingly wide armoury.
  
  Available from the band direct or UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT All artwork by Glyn Scrawled
  

• Metal Ireland
  Hexxed really have changed immeasurably from the group that once spat out the death-thrash attack of 'Perish the Sacred' nearly a decade ago.
  
  By the time their excellent 'Where Gods Look Away' 7? arrived a few years back, it looked like they were making a serious go of it, fulfilling their potential as on of the most talented bands in the Irish metal underground.
  
  Working an impressive style mainly inspired by Death ('Spiritual Healing' era) and with touches of more progressive metal, the departure of vocalist Ciaran Tracey three years ago resulted in the band quickly sinking from view again.
  
  What followed was a period of frankly cryptic and intermittent updates from the group. Spanning a period of years, they outlined that a new line-up would be going down a new, much more left-field route. Anticipation and eyebrows slowly rose as it looked like a proper album and band incarnation was becoming a reality.
  
  'The Synapse Collision' certainly fulfills that promise of being very different from the band's previous material. This is hardly surprising considering the band's almost complete revamp, but for the Metal faithful this is going to be a hard record come to terms with.
  
  While 'Engaging the Flow' kicks off in pretty convincing style, hammering out inventive riffs powerfully, the new vocal approach is harder to warm to. But it's the collection of fragmented tracks that follow that cause the most consternation.
  
  Noise samples are one thing, but the brash, bleeping vistas that are provided here are nothing short of irritating. They're mixed far higher than the guitars in the previous song, which gives the record the vibe of demo quality sound rather than anything like a full mix.
  
  Combined with constant disembodied samples from some enthusiastic-sounding lecturer, we're left with precious little to really get the teeth into. It seems more like the concept of the album is being frantically promoted, but to the detriment of the songs that make it up.
  
  The vocal stylings are a particular issue. There are multiple vocalists at work here, but it's very hard to distinguish who is singing what. Things coast along nicely when a simple deep growl is used, but the Layne Stayley-style yowlings in 'Rewire' are unadvised to say the least.
  
  The group clearly are well able to fire out the riffs when required, and can shred and chug like demons when they want. It's the composition that's the issue here, with the fragmenting of songs that sound like they could make up one track into several tracks which is odd and jarring. Claiming that's the aim doesn't make it any less tiresome.
  
  After the hodge-podge of the second half of the album, the straight forward assault of 'Tricloptics' is a welcome development.
  
  Again, those clean crooning vocals in the the mid-section are horrific, sounding more like they should inhabit a singer-songwriter's night in the local than anywhere else, but some extremely tasty guitar leads arrive swiftly to save the day.
  
  Rapidly changing with every track, the record sounds calculated to be off-the-wall at times. As such, a healthy whack of pretension is hard to avoid. When they decide they want to rock hard and play songs, the group clearly have it.
  
  However, at this stage, hard graft and genuine crafting of the tracks into something grander will be required before they can claim to have really attained the misty, conceptual level for which they're aiming. Still, there's no denying this is an interesting record with plenty of character.
  
  Its flaws are there to be seen, but so are positive factors that glare just as brightly. The next release will be real deal-breaker for Hexxed 2.0.
  
  3 / 5 - Lorcan Archer ::: 26/08/10

• Terrorizer
  It's hard to believe that it's taken nigh on ten years for Belfast's Hexxed to get their debut full length out and boy, was it worth the wait! Tight and textual, and packing more punch than Tyson, 'The Synapse Collision' is a slick melting pot of Technical Death violence and progressive compositions
  
  [7] LM (Terrorizer Mag Issue 200) Summer 2010