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Stream Roundup: Hexer, Lluvia

hexer

Hexer – s/t

If you’ve listened to Invisible Oranges on East Village Radio, you may have heard us play Hexer. Hexer is far from a household name, so to jog your memory: Hexer is the massively fuzzed out, thrashy black metal band that plays a style of music typically relegated to the world of poor production and, often, obscurity. Hexer is one of those—obscure—but stands out from many of its peers in that you can actually hear what is going on in detail. Hexer’s music is sort of an alignment of the underground black metal stars, akin to having your cake and eating it, too.

The Philadelphia band has two demos under its belt, and they both rip. Built on a thrash skeleton and with punk and black metal leanings, there’s a militaristic stomp to these songs, a little bit of unrepentant bombast. They’re catchy as hell, too. Hexer’s Metal Archives page says the band is a three-piece and includes this interesting bit of information: the guitarist and bassist Phlegethon is married to the voaclist, Ansgar. Going a little deeper down the rabbit hole, Phlegethon’s personal Metal Archives page says that he is a doctoral student at the University of Iceland. Hexer’s third member is Lazarus, who also plays in Mutilation Rites and is in charge of drum programming and rhythm guitars. Given the apparent long distance working relationship, the album artwork above takes on a new meaning.

Gilead Media recently compiled Hexer’s two cassette demos and pressed them to an LP. Stream it.

Lluvia – “Espada De Bronce”

Fallen Empire has proven expert over the years at unearthing underground gems. The Rain in Endless Fall was one of those Fallen Empire finds, but the band called it quits some time in the last year or so. From the ashes of Rain, though, Lluvia emerged, crafting a brand of huge and raw atmospheric black metal bigger and better than ever before. Production on Lluvia’s forthcoming album, Premonicion de Guerra, is cleaned up compared to RIEF releases, and will be available in the near future from Fallen Empire. Here is “Espada de Bronce,” an absolute blaster and the first single from the forthcoming album. Look for new streams from Lluvia soon.

— Wyatt Marshall