HEXIS
Blackened hardcore that doesn’t care for your labels
SOUNDS LIKE:
The ugliest parts of hardcore and black metal being played at the same time
FOR FANS OF:
Burnt By The Sun, Brotherhood Of The Lake, Full Of Hell
LISTEN TO:
Famelicus
ONE OF THE most intriguing things to happen to our scene over the past decade has been the amount of crosspollination our various subgenres have been through. The battles fought between punk and metal fans of the past now seem pretty absurd, and the music being made today is all the better for it.
“It was kind of unusual when we first started,” says Hexis vocalist Filip, talking about his band’s brand of crushing black metal and hardcore.
“But these days it seems like there are many bands that are mixing these things. It feels pretty good to have stuck to our guns when people weren’t sure if it would work.”
Indeed, the blackening of hardcore has certainly been one of the most exciting stylistic movements of this generation. And Hexis are as good at it as anyone; the Danish quintet’s recent five-track album, XII, is 16 minutes of grinding, grooving extremity that takes everything vicious about both subgenres and makes them play a nightmarish aural tug of war.
“It always made sense to me,” Filip continues about the band’s sound.
“Black metal bands have really great riffs, but they also tend to be very complex and sometimes play really long sets, so we wanted to take that base of extreme music and riffs and mix it with the energy, the pace, the quickness of hardcore. We play shorter sets so we don’t get anyone walking out!”
With a sound as aggressive as Hexis’s, we reckon you would be a right wally to walk away from their live shows but, obviously, there are still a few purists left from both sides that would prefer Hexis picked a box and stuck to it.
“Yeah, we still get a few of the hardcore guys that aren’t impressed,” chuckles Filip. “And the black metal guys have called us ‘hipster black metal’ and all of the usual stuff. But that’s fine, those people are entitled to their opinions; we all like different things and have different barriers for what we find acceptable.”
Hexis obviously don’t have time for such trivial conversations, especially as they have spent most of their career trying to escape the confines of Copenhagen’s underground scene.
“I put on shows back home,” shrugs Filip when asked about the Danish music scene. “I think my shows are good, of course, but there really isn’t a lot for me to be excited about when I think of our music scene. We’ve just been on tour in the United States – we did about 250 shows last year – we don’t want to have any boundaries, we just want to go everywhere.”
Which means, as a law of averages, we should presumably be seeing Hexis on UK soil again very soon.
“Yes, I think so,” nods Filip. “I would imagine early this year we’ll look to come back to the UK, and we’d love to do some festivals, too.”
When they do come back, make sure you’re there – no matter what type of music you’re into.
XII IS OUT NOW VIA CVLT NATION
“WE GET CALLED ‘HIPSTER
BLACK METAL’”