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The Tension and Ambiguity of Xenosis's "Night Hag"

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The mere utterance of “tech-death” can set off a long chain of argumentative violence. From accusations of an obsession with virtuosity to the oft-cited resulting sterility of the seemingly mechanized performances, these complaints and criticisms are well-trodden ground for both fans and detractors of the genre alike. New Haven progressive tech-death crew Xenosis are not a group plagued by such symptoms, as evidenced by their recent release Devour and Birth.

An intensely musical effort, the album takes advantage of Xenosis’s formidable abilities and applies them in service of a deliciously inventive vision. The band augment their creativity with a number of enticing influences and touchstones to arrive at a final result that is far beyond a hollow idolization of proficiency. Premiering exclusively below is their brand-new video for the album’s opener “Night Hag.”

Percussive stabs set the tone immediately and provide plenty of room for bassist Dave Legenhausen to make his presence known. Legenhausen’s restlessness adds a charismatic funkiness to the band’s sound, one which plays a major role in setting them apart from their peers.

As expected, Xenosis’s songs feature an array of time signatures, but the band expertly stitch them together so that the groove is never disturbed. Jagged djent riffs, tremolo blasts, and propulsive bass/drum breaks are cohesively blended, and as with the other songs on Devour and Birth, “Night Hag” is eminently headbangable.

The video for the song is well-produced, though far from groundbreaking in terms of its visual content. It’s a standard-fare outing with the expected erratic action shots of the band — frequent cuts between disjointed close-ups constantly shifting in and out of focus.

An ambiguous storyline is woven between the performance shots with increasing tension to match the song’s progression. There’s a robed, candle-bearing woman, a couple of shirtless dudes, some sort of dark ritual, but it’s all secondary to the music itself. The video serves its function as a pedestal on which the band’s impressive performances and stirring songwriting can be effectively appreciated, and in this sense, it’s quite suitable.

The entirety of Devour and Birth is well worth a trip over to Xenosis’ Bandcamp page where the album is available in digital and CD formats.