Hekz - Caerus

  by Erick Mertz

published: 22 / 2 / 2015

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Review

I was fifteen once. So were you. Remember staying up late past your bedtime, glued to a grainy Headbanger’s Ball video on MTV, probably revelling in the skintight glory of bands like Krokus and Dio, and tracks like 'Holy Diver' that made full range of a long-haired scion’s vocal range. For me, those days are gone but they are certainly not forgotten. The four guys from Bedford, UK, Hekz clearly feel the pull. There are hair metal influences all over their newest. 'Caerus' is a veritable symphony of fast guitars and high-ranging falsettos. Since those stay up late days on Headbanger’s Ball, my metal tastes have changed. But they haven’t gone astray from those pure and simple joys either. Tracks like 'From Obscurity to Eternity' and 'Progress & Failure' bring me squarely back to that place where my heavy needs conformed to a simple formula. Hekz isn’t purely radio friendly though. Frequently throughout their record they break with simple song formats, stretching out to explansive lengths, particularly on 'Homo Ex Machina' and 'Journey’s End'. I’m inclined to highly recommend 'Caerus' to speed freaks and metal heads out there simply because it crosses back across the line to a fun and enjoyable brand of metal. These guys really kick back to a time when heavy music wasn’t some cloak and dagger cool test.

Track Listing:-

1 Progress & Failure
2 Liberation
3 Disconnect the World
4 From Obscurity to Eternity
5 The Black Hand
6 Kingdom
7 The Left Hand of God
8 Homo Ex Machina
9 Journey's End?

Band Links:-

https://twitter.com/hekztheband
http://hekztheband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HeKztheBand