HEXENBRETT

Idiosyncratic metallers Hexenbrett premiere a new track “Imotep”

Today, idiosyncratic metallers Hexenbrett premiere the new track “Imotep”. The track is the third to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter, set for international release on December 20th via Dying Victims Productions. Hear Hexenbrett‘s “Imotep” in its entirety here:

It was but May of the cursed year of 2020 when Hexenbrett truly came into their own with their shockingly masterful debut album, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten, courtesy of Dying Victims. While the enigmatic duo of Josto Feratu and Scarlettina Bolétte had definitely turned heads with the Erste Beschwörung demo in 2019, their debut album’s idiosyncratic kaleidoscope of Varathron, Jean Rollin, Danzig, Goblin, and Van Halen emerged as completely unique and unlike little else around.

Predictably unpredictable, Hexenbrett returned the following year with Intermezzo dei quattro coltelli nudi, a crazed ‘n’ crazy EP that was the result of canceled concerts and tours. As suggested by its title, the record was no “beschwörung” but, rather, an intermezzo: for the first time in the then-brief history of Hexenbrett, this EP did not feature performances by the duo but, instead, the live line-up for 2020 – of course, under the watchful eyes and ears of the clandestine couple. A split EP with fellow Austrian eccentrics Hagzissa followed in 2022, with the duo returning to recorded format.

Josto and Scarlettina continued to refuse playing live but managed to recruit musicians to perform their music on live stages. Their recruits recently finished the IN CONCERTZIONE 2024 European club tour with labelmates Deathstorm. During that time, Josto and Scarlettina laid the finishing touches on what would become Hexenbrett’s second album.

Now, at long last, comes that second full-length to eclipse all that came before. Titled Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter, Hexenbrett’s second album is a devilish and drama-filled rollercoaster ride through cult metal and cult cinema alike. Arguably more so than their previous recordings, Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter truly encapsulates their demi-tag of “The Sound of the Bloody Iris,” for a wide panoply of sounds and sensations swarm the listener, wrapping them in a wild and bewildering but above all kaleidoscopic headspace that easily avoids simple categorization.

While other bands are usually influenced by heavyweights of heavy metal music like Judas Priest or Bathory, Hexenbrett take their main inspiration from Euro cult cinema and soundtracks; some of the most important names are Sergio Martino, Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, Bruno Nicolai, and Alessandro Alessandroni. One will readily hear that influence here in the prominent usage of vintage synths as well as chimes – the latter both beautiful and ominous – as readily as one will hear guitar leads that are alternately haunting / heroic. But the salient point is that Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter moves in a most filmic fashion – metallic, sure, but this is far, FAR from your Normal Metal Music.

As such, Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter is an amalgamation of love and hate, and represents the duality of birth and death. Its purpose is to enable listeners to escape; it strangles and stabs the status quo of normality. Normality is surrender – escape with Hexenbrett!

Begin escaping with the previously revealed “Wozu die Angst” exclusively HERE, courtesy of NoCleanSinging.com, as well as the previously revealed “Um Mitternacht” exclusively HERE, courtesy of Deaf Forever magazine. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Hexenbrett’s Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter
1. Um Mitternacht
2. Dem Teufel eine Tochter
3. Marisa
4. Imhotep
5. Wozu die Angst
6. La Plese De La Nuit
7. Leder im Nachtverkehr
8. Denn der Tod lächelt nicht
9. Sette Gocce Rosse Su Velluto Verde

MORE INFO:
hexenbrett.bandcamp.com

www.dying-victims.de 
www.facebook.com/dyingvictimsproductions 

HEXENBRETT premiere new track

On May 22nd internationally, Dying Victims Productions will release Hexenbrett’s highly anticipated debut album, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
Hear Hexenbrett‘s “Lass Schlafende Leichen Ruhen” in its entirety here:
It was at the dawn of 2019 when a strange little demo inconspicuously announced itself from the other side and introduced the sound of the bloody iris. Titled Erste Beschwörung, it was the first public recording of one Hexenbrett, the work of a mysterious duo revealing themselves as Josto Feratu and Scarlettina Bolétte. This was a literal bolt from the blue, sounds that were as refreshingly new as they were authentically old. “Cemetery sounds” is what the band called them, but that only told half the story. Wild and wily, Hexenbrett unloaded a dizzying payload of sounds both traditional and unorthodox, dumping into its hot-rockin’ cauldron spices from first-wave black metal, Iron Curtain-era speed metal, outsider doom, and even old-school deathrock. It was a kaleidoscopic spin, and caught the attention of Caligari Records (who did a wider cassette release) and then Dying Victims with their 12” vinyl version toward the end of the year. Lots of other, strange-starved ears picked up on it, too.

The stage thus set, Hexenbrett proceeds to defy expectations and obliterate the slate with its debut album, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten. A record of stark contrasts, Zweite Beschwörung immediately sounds definitively like Hexenbrett: roaming ancient cemeteries with a torch in hand, conjuring the madness and mysticism of early black metal, when unorthodoxy was celebrated and no blueprints yet existed – only paths to be blazed! But, that latter element is precisely where Zweite Beschwörung takes a different turn, delving into waters both more refined and more rarefied, more straightforward and more obtuse – more METAL, epic and outlandish and “true,” but decidedly in an un-metal manner – beguiling the senses either way, and addictively so. It’s a turn that’s directly inspired by such sources as varied as Varathron, Jean Rollin, Danzig, Goblin, and Van Halen, and yet emerging completely unique and unlike little else around. A diverse journey through moldy crypts and deranged minds, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten features eight original tracks and an astonishing cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “The Spider Song.”

Quite commandingly, Hexenbrett reveal an uncanny knack for songcraft, building defined and endearing hooks that unfold unexpectedly yet thrillingly, the intensity constantly rising and falling with preternatural ease but always in service of the song. Elsewhere, the band coats its creations with subtle layers of synth, further fanning that otherworldly atmosphere that laid in wait across the demo while ragged aggression usually took over. Which is all to say nothing of the absolutely spellbinding chimes often employed, evoking a banquet of horror with an almost-filmic quality in line with the band’s love for European cult cinema. And, fittingly, the production across Zweite Beschwörung is richly analog, scrappy but shimmering, evincing a totality of design and just-professional-enough presentation without sacrificing the entity’s original ethics. Like most first albums should be, the tale of Hexenbrett truly begins here.

If there was ever any question about Hexenbrett’s singular nature, just beginning to bloom, simply gaze upon the cover art to Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten. All other paths blazed, this is the only one left, and it’s Hexenbrett’s alone… The dead will dance – expect the unexpected!

Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hexenbrett’s Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten
1. Ein Kind Zu Töten (I)
2. Lass Schlafende Leichen Ruhen
3. Spalovac Mrtvol
4. La Tumba De Los Muertos Viviente
5. The Spider Song
6. Ein Kind Zu Töten (II)
7. Attraverso Sette Porte All’Inferno
8. Blutige Seide
9. Les Reqiuem Des Vampires
MORE INFO:
www.hexenbrett.bandcamp.com
www.dying-victims.de 
www.facebook.com/dyingvictimsproductions 

HEXENBRETT to have debut demo re-released by CALIGARI – streaming in full

Today, Caligari Records sets May 30th as the international release date for Hexenbrett‘s debut demo, Erste Beschwörung, on cassette tape format. Originally self-released at the end of 2018, this first summoning of the macabre Hexenbrett will surely be one of 2019’s most nefarious recordings.

Hexenbrett is an entity that provides cemetery sounds exclusively. The first invocation, fittingly entitled Erste Beschwörung, is a sample of what will follow in the future. Roaming ancient dungeons with sword in one hand and torch in the other, Hexenbrett conjures the madness and mysticism of olde-worlde black metal, when unorthodoxy was celebrated and no blueprints yet existed – only paths to be blazed! Indeed does Hexenbrett blaze across this six-song/26-minute offering, remaining firmly rooted in the purest metals but fanning those flames with a creepy, coffin-dwelling atmosphere that puts Erste Beschwörung in a league all its own, also incorporating eldritch doom and deathrock into this wildly bubbling cauldron. And it’s early days still…

No boundaries, no limitations: Hexenbrett digs its own unique grave with Erste Beschwörung, and the cemetery is wide-fucking-open. The spell was cast, the demons are here – let the haunting begin! The full haunting can be heard here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hexenbrett’s Erste Beschwörung
1. Hexen (Bis Aufs Blut Gequält)
2. Toter Schrei
3. Farben der Nacht
4. Sie Fliegen!
MORE INFO:
www.caligarirecords.com
www.facebook.com/caligarirecords
www.caligarirecords.bandcamp.com