Review
Sutekh Hexen
Larvae

If you have ever heard any Sutekh Hexen release prior to Larvae (and there is a multitude), than there is definitely a surprise in store for you because Larvae is a complete re-imagining of what this outfit has done from their first tape that they unleashed on the world; the mind bending riffing (of the black metal style) and the elements of harsh noise that once pulverized a listener’s ears are relegated to aspects and parts of a much more fully realized destructive motif making for a much more tense and measured experience while relinquishing none of the visceral energy that dominated the group’s previous efforts, and it is the integration of those raw and aggressive modes of musical warfare into an even more devastating monolith of sound.

The three tracks that make up Larvae are quite simply the most sprawling pieces in this group’s canon, and each individual song feels like an entity unto itself while fitting perfectly well in the context of this as a whole recorded work; whether the ominous and borderline eerie nature of “Isvar Savasana” (prior to the sound explosion which, although heavy, is shockingly tuneful and features guest vocals courtesy of Integrity mastermind Dwid Hellion) grabs you first or the intense almost blackened doom of “Lead Us In Warfare” sucks you into the twisted and darkened world of Sutekh Hexen, almost nothing can prepare you for what is in store within the churning, desolate soundscape of “La Det Bli Lys” and its mystical ability to drag a listener into abject despondency (no joke, this song makes me want to pull my hair out and gnash my teeth and while I never quite needed it, this piece is what I would imagine being trapped in an oubliette would sound like in my head).


Sutekh Hexen wastes nary an aural nook or cranny nor a single second with Larvae as every sonic millimeter seems to be jammed tight with purposeful sound and nightmarish vision that can only be conjured through devoted rituals with listening to this album as the rite to achieve the opposite of nirvana; with Larvae, Sutekh Hexen may be thrust from the darkest shadows into some uncomfortable spaces because the album may be the crossover point from a group that inspires a cultish devotion on the fringes of the musical world to a skewed spot in the fuzzy lamp light that people point to in equal portions awed respect and abject disgust as a touchstone for where people can point and name as a reference point for other bands and artists that plumb similar sonic depths.