Hexvessel – No Holier Temple

Hexvessel is founded by Englishman Mat Kvohst McNerney (Dødheimsgard, Beastmilk, Code, Void), who after moving to Finland in 2009 he found other musicians from Tampere featuring members of Galacticka and Dark Buddha Rising that joined him in the project. It’s a psychedelic progressive folk band and their newest effort is also their second full length album called ‘No Holly Temple’ which was released on CD, DLP and digital format.

As the album starts with ‘Heaven And Earth Magic’ these mysterious enchanting melodies fill the room while Mat Kvohst McNerney intones some lyrics with reference to nature and works like an intro to the second track called ‘Woods To Conjure’, a beautiful soft song with this psychedelic guitar sound and trumpets that add more melancholy to the song. While i was listening to the album i found the sound of the band similar with many bands mainly from the late 60’s and 70’s like The Doors, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Eloy.

‘Wilderness Is’ is a soft instrumental song which also works as an intro to the next song called ‘A Letter In Birch Bark’ with some beautiful accordion and mandolin that in combination with the rest of the band produce some dramatic and melancholic tune. Mat McNerney voice fits like a glove with the music, sounding very different than the past works he has done with other bands. ‘Elegy To Goyahkla’ is similar to the opening track ‘Heaven And Earth Magic’ with the same vibe and it works like a bridge after Mat Kvohst McNerney’s spoken words to one of the two the biggest tracks of the album called ‘His Portal Tomb’. In this song you can hear the more progressive side of the band influenced by the 70’s progressive rock with a touch of dark psychedelic rock and some doom metal sound. ‘Are You Coniferous’ softens the sound for a while, with the same dark atmosphere that ‘A Letter In Birch Bark’ has along with McNerney’s screaming lyrics.

‘Sacred Marriage’ is more close to their folk sound and kinda reminded me of Led Zeppelin and stuff like that.
‘Dues To The Dolmen’ follows the same mood with ‘Heaven And Earth Magic’ and ‘Wilderness Is’, opening with some magical clarinet and acoustic guitars, and later in the song has a psychedelic progressive section introducing the biggest track of the album called ‘Unseen Sun’, where you can hear a mix of all the influences of Hexvessel. A track with dark depressive sound that drowns you into it’s maelstrom with many folk elements and the more progressive and psychedelic sound of the band. The last track of the album is called ‘Your Head Is Reeling’ and it’s actually a cover of ‘Ultimate Spinach’ that they adapted in their sound.

So if you haven’t listened to them yet and you are a fan of psychedelic – progressive sound you should hear the new album of Hexvessel. I think that you will be surprised by the quality of the band and their music.