Tuesday 25 August 2015

Anders Manga - Hexed (Album Review)


Release date: August 14th 2015. Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Hexed: Tracklisting

1.Hexed 04:14
2.The Creeping Flesh 02:58
3.Bloody Revenge 03:03
4.Burn the Black Flame 02:58
5.Ghosts of Victims Past 02:06
6.March to the Altar 03:10
7.Once-over 01:03
8.Drive-In Moonlight 03:32
9.Seer Lays a Hex 01:42
10.I Know Where You're Hiding 02:10
11.Kill the Cult Leader 02:34
12.Depraved are Lurking 02:09
13.Fin 02:46

Bio:

Anders Manga is a producer from Transylvania County, NC. He released his debut album, 'One Up for the Dying' in 2004. His music has been featured in various films and TV shows such as the WB TV show “Vampire Diaries”. He also helms the heavy rock band Bloody Hammers.

Review:

Now this album falls outside the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal stuff that I normally promote but I'm reviewing it as it's an album from Anders Manga. Lead singer/guitarist from ace Doom/Occult/Stoner Rock riffsters – Bloody Hammers.

I'll let Anders tell you what this album is all about:

Anders here from Bloody Hammers. Thanks for your Bloody Hammers support in the past on Bandcamp. As a horror movie fan, in the spring I got the itch to do some electronic synth music inspired by those movies. John Carpenter, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento... all that awesome stuff from the 80's. I called the collection 'Hexed'

Hexed is a creepy instrumental ride into the darkness with shades of classic horror movie soundtracks. I can really feel the John Carpenter vibe especially with the more electronic/synth based tracks such as The Creeping Flesh and Bloody Revenge.

It's too Anders credit that his music has a disturbing and violent identity of it's own. It's very doomy and gothic in parts and it should appeal to fans within the Doom/Occult Rock movement. It's a shame this soundtrack is for a movie that doesn't exist as Hexed makes you want to see the actual movie. It does transport you back to the 80s where the Video Nasties made their name especially in the UK where I'm from. I remember watching a truckload of violent horror movies when I was a kid and this album brought back some vivid memories from that time.

John Carpenter is one of my fave horror/action directors when I was growing up. Films such as Halloween, The Thing and Escape From New York are considered classics and one thing that made them stand-out was the highly atmospheric scores. Anders succeeds in creating the same vibe on every song.

The synths are pitch-perfect with the gothic/occult rock influence making an appearance on some of the albums later tracks.

If you're in the mood for something different from the usual mix of Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal then check out Hexed as this is a stunning album with more thrills and chills than today's so called horror movies. Lets hope this album is released on Vinyl in the future as it's the perfect format for an album such as this.

You can buy Hexed on BandCamp Buy Now. Awesome stuff...

Words by Steve Howe

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