Hex machine

HEX MACHINE, “Omen Mas”
"It’s funny that a band should share the same name as what the ladies call me! *Ahem*, returning to reality, Hex Machine are a long-running project out of Virginia.. noise rock filth of the highest caliber. I know right now there’s a small current of bands that are championing the AmRep sound, and I’m happy about that. Though I think Hex Machine might win the title for hitting it square between the eyes, what with it’s early 90’s feedback-laden, fuzzy recording. The early Today Is the Day screeches and howls, seething vocals and tortured rhythms are most noticeable. The pounding fuzz of old Hammerhead records beat to shit acting as a conduit for Hex machine’s playing, and their daily worship at the alter of Halo Of Flies... it’s all there. They eat Guzzard for breakfast and shit out The Cows at the end of the day. And for all that I applaud them. It’s a bitter, pissed off listen that hurts in a good way. Somewhere Tom Hazelmeyer is shooting off a rifle in their honor." (Minimum Underdrive, minimumunderdrive@gmail.com)
--Hanging like a Hex



"Richmond has so much going for it, but this is possibly the greatest thing after the Museum of the Confederacy (be sure to ask for the NOVA-trainwreck-watcher discount).

Blueprint to Madness

I missed several chances to see this band and I’m regretting it. All these awesome Southerners seem to wuss out and not make it past Brooklyn.

I have no idea what Omen Mas means but is possibly the metalist thing I’ve ever heard. I don’t know much about them except that they’re called “math rock” a lot which is a huge turn-off because I have a restraining order against math and find it pretty sneaky that it would try to invade something so slovenly sounding. You know how you’d always try to explain to the teacher that something didn’t require any math and they’d be all “Yeah it does.” I hated that.

Next week, look for my interview with someone who follows baseball and my pontificating on the loss of the City Weekly. Who wants to pay my Boston Globe bill?"

-- The Guest Informant




"Hex Machine - "Black Skeleton"

"Let not the departure of this band's sorta famous drummer deter you -- Hex Machine brutalize as is. Omen Mas timewarps to an era when grunge and metal were still lounging around in bed post-coitus, the early-90s heyday of Melvins and Today Is the Day and Cows, when Amphetamine Reptile could do no wrong and production clarity was for assholes. Every deranged riff is dipped in electric tempura batter and fried 'til crispy, every one of Trevor T's honest-to-Satan melodies is corroded in feedback. Heavier tracks like "Nurse Me Back to Hell" and "Godheads Full of Candy" crawl in the dirt and puke up mud. The more rockin' numbers drag the filth out into the light -- Hex Machine sound like elephants in tutus on "Black Skeleton" and "Vivisection," their bulging, gritty guitar tone stuffed into awfully well-formed songs.

Hex Machine - "Hook And Eyes"

Hex Machine's metallic allegiances keep 'em punching guts, and their grungey tendencies keep 'em frying eardrums. Like Black Elk, Bellini and other graduates of the 90s noise rock academy, there's chaos nearly bursting out of the grimy pores of Omen Mas. I wonder what the album would have sounded like with a bigger, less-muzzled production. Probably a lot more palatable. Maybe it's a good thing that the sound is so dirty. Who knows what would happen if Hex Machine were unmuzzled? Shit, I wanna find out..."
--Cerebral Metalhead

http://www.cerebralmetalhead.com/2009/03/chainmail-hex-machine-omen-mas-minimum.html

Oiga mas de Omen Mas en la pagina MySpace de Hex Machine

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Hex-a-Gone

"Cut from the same Jesus Lizard-loving cloth, Richmond, Virginia-based Hex Machine and local group The Admirals Club stand together as a testament to the badassery of ugly, scuzzy, heavy rock. Where Hex Machine's squelchy guitars and pulsing rhythm section originate a bit more from left field, The Admirals Club balance the bill with a straight-ahead bar-band version of the same riff-oriented, beat-driven filth. Both bands are supporting recently released records: Hex Machine's Omen Mas is available via frontman Trevor Thomas' own imprint, while The Admirals Club's Blackout Sunday was released by Today Is The Day leader Steve Austin's Supernova Records." --Matt Sullivan (Printed in the Nashville Scene/Pick of the week)


Hex Machine - Omen Mas
"Hex Machine play a particularly angular brand of noise-rock/metal, most reminiscent of Unsane, with a bit of Jesus Lizard thrown in. Opening with a bit of harsh feedback and static, "Nurse Me Back to Hell" features a nice, heavy riff at a bone-crushing tempo, setting the tone for the rest of the album superbly. Vocals are largely distorted screams, sort of like David Yow, or perhaps a more dynamic Chris Spencer. "Lunatic Sun" is a bit more metallic, opening with an almost doomy riff and monotone singing that vaguely recalls ritualistic doomsters Om. My personal favourite track on this album, "Black Skeleton", is a more up-tempo piece, that at one point reminds me of "A Minute" by Shellac. "Pink
Whisky" almost treads on Boris territory, while closing number "Vivisection" channels the best of the likes of Steve Albini without slipping into the sincerest form of flattery. All in all, a fucking excellent release from a fucking excellent band."
--Live4metal // Review by Luke Goaman-Dodson

http://www.dagheisha.com/music_section/cd.asp?idus=3812
A cura di Roberto Michieletto @ 22/03/2009

"Questo è il suono del sangue che scorre nelle vene e solo chi ne possiede il patrimonio genetico storico può interpretarlo e viverlo come se fosse parte integrante della propria epidermide e della propria anima sudicia. Hex Machine nascono nel 2004 per mano del chitarrista e cantante Trevor Thomas e del batterista Dave Witte (successivamente fuoriuscito dal gruppo per dedicarsi ai Municipal Waste, ma di cui ricordiamo i trascorsi con Burnt By The Sun, Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Human Remains e Atomsmasher) e dopo aver esordito con un 7” per la Relapse hanno rilasciato un 12” prima di arrivare a ‘Omen Mas’, lavoro di debutto esteso. Nove tracce di pesantezza sonora garantita da un quartetto armato di due chitarre, basso e batteria che si applica nella modellazione di forme musicali che, pur incorporando diverse sfumature generiche, mi sento in dover di far rientrare sotto la comune definizione di noise rock. Il legame con quel preciso verbo espressivo, che nei primi anni ‘90 conobbe una diffusione capillare e seppe produrre album straordinari, per suono e strutture, deve quindi essere rimarcato ed evidenziato, poiché è lì che ancora affondano le radici di Hex Machine, laddove regnavano incontrastati Hammerhead, Live Skull, Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Unsane, Godheadsilo, Vertigo, Cherubs, Cows e compagnia furibonda assortita. Ma la formazione di Richmond non è solo (e sarebbe già tanto) quello, poiché è ben consapevole di come sia possibile, oltre che doveroso, andare oltre ed ecco che i riff spigolosi, le linee di basso massicce e pulsanti e un drumming da classificarsi come pachidermico sanno evolvere in continuazione grazie a un sound ricco di dinamiche e stratificazione strumentali variabili per intensità. Ecco che i brani si differenziano in maniera uniforme gli uni dagli altri, dal momento che gli Hex Machine sanno muoversi anche in contesti heavy rock dilatati, metallico/matematici densi, proto grunge e sludge mai troppo impastati. Come dei Today Is The Day in cui la furia iconoclasta viene dominata dalla ragione e persino da un certo appeal amichevole (pur se non troppo amichevole...)! Ottimi."



"This is the sound of blood flowing in the veins, and only those who have
the genetic history can interpret it and live it as if it were
part of your skin and your soul dirty.
Hex Machine born in 2004 at the hands of the guitarist and singer Trevor
Thomas and drummer Dave Witte (later leaked by the
group to pursue Municipal Waste, but that we remember the past
with Burnt By The Sun, Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Human Remains and
Atomsmasher) and after having started with a 7 "on Relapse have
released a 12 "before reaching a 'Omen Mas', working debut
extended. Nine tracks of heavy sound provided by a quartet armato
two guitars, bass and drums which applies in modeling
musical forms which, while incorporating several nuances general, I
I feel in having to fall under the common definition of noise
rock. The link to that precise expressive word, which in the early 90s
experienced a widespread and was able to produce extraordinary album, for
sound and structure, it must be noted and highlighted, as is
still there that the roots of Hex Machine, where reigned
Hammerhead uncontested, Live Skull, Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Unsane,
Godheadsilo, Vertigo, Cherubs, Cows and furious assortita company. But
the formation of Richmond is not only (and is already so) that, since
is well aware of how it is possible and should, go beyond
and so the angular riffs, bass lines and huge buttons and a
drumming to be classified as pachyderm knows evolve
continued with a sound full of dynamics and stratification
instrumental variables for intensity. Here are the songs that are different in
uniformly from each other, since the Hex Machine
can move even in a heavy rock dilated,
metal / math dense, proto grunge and sludge never too mixed.
As of Today Is The Day when the iconoclastic fury is dominated
by reason and even a certain appeal friendly (although not too
friendly ...)! Excellent."