Hexvessel's "All Tree" make it abundantly clear from the beginning, these guys are big dorks.
The opening track "Blessing" leads off with a whimsical, a Capella chorale, a sort of medieval barbershop quartet who sing of a boy, not yet a man, who draws an arrow to kill the golden king. This introduction reminded me of the "Mamma Mia" section of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody.” If only Hexvessel had an iota of Queen's energy, or Freddie Mercury's charisma.
The Necrosexual has always considered himself a renaissance ghoul. I'm just as likely to spin Temptations, Ladytron or Phil Collins in my Lair as I am to Napalm Death or Exodus. However, Finland's Hexvessel is TRVE, literal renaissance music. The kind that evokes images of brooding cloaked figures around a fire on a cold, rainy night.
The instrumentation is mostly in acoustic and clean tones. It has some eerie guitar riffs that twang out over wispy vocal harmonies. The sound is neatly organized, even calm. It conjures images of simpler times, hints of forest spirits and magic in the woods.
Certain passages reminded me of Opeth's contemplative prog rock material with a touch of David Gilmour. Smooth guitar tone and bright, buttery solos. Other songs boasted of a jaunty, shuffle swing, more akin to drunk dances in a candlelit tavern, hundreds of years before the birth of modern guitar amplifiers or Metal Zone distortion pedals.
For a band that calls themselves "psychedelic folk" this album was far too sobering an experience. I found myself yearning for musical escapism. I appreciate their commitment to their homeland's folk heritage. However, these dudes hail from a country of delightfully off-kilter bands. Demilich, Depravity, Amorphis. I wanted to trip balls and go on a wild and crazy journey with some "Wilderness Spirits", maybe do battle with a "Changeling," instead of being serenaded by chill world music.
Alas, I consider Hexvessel to be a sub genre I've coined "Heavy Mellow," and the "heavy" part is also a stretch. Heady Mellow...that's more like it.
It seems many modern bands under the "hard rock/metal" umbrella focus too much on the atmosphere instead of the ATTITUDE. Their sound quickly evaporates into background music, instead of being the presence. Sure, Hexvessel's new album is fine if you're looking to play some inspired music during a game of Setters of Catan. But where does it lead?
Does the outcast protagonist who is scarred by his "Birthmark" finally emerge from his "Otherworldly Envoy" to battle the Golden King and thrust his steel through the tyrant's chest? Does the "Old Tree" wither and fade away to reveal a cursed artifact, left behind and long forgotten by "Ancient Astronauts" to unleash a darkness upon the land?
Whatever fantasy world Hexvessel has built in "All Tree" is buried plainly in their sing songy melodies and twangy yarns, and I was too bored to care about what any of it meant. Hexvessel exceeds at setting the scene, but misses the crescendo and pay off. This band needs more Deep Purple and less Blackmore's Night.
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