Review by Nathan on February 21, 2020.

Ah, much better. While I can't say the intensity of Mors Verum is properly encapsulated in a live setting (yet), I do think that if you're just hearing them on record without knowing that they play without a drummer, you'll be less inclined to be turned off by the drum programming and all that. If you pay close attention you'll realize the drum hits all sound a little too similar to be human, but for the most part the drum has been written to at least sound like it would be possible for a human to play them. Since the main issue with Indoctrination Forest was the production values dragging down what were otherwise some really good ideas, the fuller sound that enables me to suspend my disbelief allows me to focus on the riffs more, which is fortunate, because oh my, what riffs they are!

There's even more ventures into strange, pinch harmonic appendages on each riff, adding a touch of mid-period Immolation to riffing with amorphous and unusual scales a la Deeds of Flesh or something along those lines. The riffs are at once catchy and maddening, twisting and turning you into confusion before punishing you with an awkward, abrasive groove. The guitarist is still stealing the show here, and he's spiced up his palate even more from the previous Mors Verum release. It's worth noting that the guitarist also plays drums in a death/doom band (Ischemic), which is probably what is informing the quality of the programmed beats on here. He knows exactly what he wants it to sound like, he just can't play it himself (he's told me as much in person, anyhow). The beats shift between rapid fire blasting mixed with intricate fills, with the low rumble of the double kick being mixed well and the snare not sounding exceptionally inhuman this time around. There's also occasional forays into subtler, more atmospheric territory like "Impaled by Shadows" that work incredibly well.

It's very rare that you hear a local band attempting this sort of chaotic, multi-pronged sound, because if we're being honest not many musicians have the pedigree to pull this kind of thing off. The band could still absolutely benefit from a fuller lineup, especially in the live arena, but the fact of the matter is this blows most local death metal out of the water and has the riffing chops to have with some of the more known names in modern death metal. Somebody in the Southwest Ontario area who can play bass or drum get at these guys, because Deranged has a boatload of riffing potential and just needs that little extra push before these guys start getting namedropped alongside Tomb Mold as the premier export of Toronto death metal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Greg on November 27, 2023.

There's literally no beating around the bush when introducing this band to people. Thrash metal with an overabundance of solos is a niche in the whole retro-thrash panorama that really deserves my attention, and Hexen's debut State of Insurgency is somewhat widely recognized as one of the finest examples of it. So, if you're still new to them, what else can be said? It's simple: if you always begged your favourite NWOTM band to incorporate more elaborate solos, or just more of them, in their music, this is gonna be your go-to stuff (unless said band is Terrifier or Exmortus – in that case, why are you even asking?). It's the wet dream of every headbanger who ever touched a six-string.

Seriously, leads sure don't pop up at every corner like the said Exmortus are used to, but when they do, oh boy – the skill on display is immense. I still can't fathom how every Hexen member, except for the energetic drummer Carlos Cruz, could have severed their ties to the metal world for nearly 10 years after the project here examined came to an end. In a scene saturated with promising acts doomed by mediocre guitarists, I can't think of a band who wouldn't at least try to hire these shredders (and their fellow bassist, more on that later) to improve their level, except for the aforementioned two. And yet Ronny Dorian and temporary member James Lopez also exhibit an ear for melody like few thrash virtuosos (among the already few at all) can sport, like the endings of 'Past Life' or 'Seditions in Peacetime', or the entire 'Desolate Horizons' where Cruz's acoustic guitar parts confirm us that talent, in all likelihood, overflowed in material form out of Hexen's whole lineup.

Except for... the vocals?

It's a complaint that I can understand, Andre Hartoonian's delivery may seem slightly amateurish and even sporadically out of tune at a first hearing, but his deranged accent grew on me with time and, frankly, I can't think of a more suitable voice to recite lines like:

The evil brews, a new plan arrives
Slowly as the media settles back down
Another explosion will soon shred the town ('Blast Radius')

Ceased their bodies to exist
Severed the legs so they couldn't run
I told the victim's families
That I had fucking fun ('Gas Chamber')

Speaking about lyrics, they are another factor setting Hexen apart from the whole neo-thrash scene. Not only State of Insurgency is a loose concept album about terrorism, a pretty original theme if I ever saw one, but more topics are touched and all of them are covered with brilliant and interesting writing all the way through. Not to mention that 'Past Life' may be the most badass song beginning with a phrase like 'This is a song for the grimly depressed' ever made. Jokes aside, there's also room for a science fiction adventure ('Knee Deep in the Dead'), the detailed description of a nightmarish asylum ('Bedlam Walls'), and even some hints of the philosophical direction pursued by the follow-up in 'No More Color'. Bad luck Hartoonian discarded his vocal style for the subsequent – and, sadly, last – effort Being and Nothingness, but I recognize the music on display there surely needed something else.

I also loved how Hexen refrained from opening the album with their best and most violent song (okay, here it's at second place but...), yet again in complete counter-trend if compared to the scene, by contrast starting with 'Blast Radius' which feels more like a prelude to devastation, sitting comfortably in its mid-paced approach yet simultaneously showcasing everything they have to offer (with a bass solo to round it off). It's no easy feat, you know? Slower songs, mercifully, are not a rarity on State of Insurgency, with the other best examples being 'Chaos Aggressor' (with another acoustic intro and then a buildup to verse heavily reminiscent of Kreator's 'Riot of Violence', always a plus in my book) and the spartan, yet fearsome, 'Mutiny and Betrayal', both obviously sped up by the always impressive soloing in the middle. The aforementioned 'Gas Chamber' and 'Seditions in Peacetime', as well as the title-track, show instead Hexen at their most headbangable-selves. It shouldn't really come as a surprise by now, but the latter's chill-inducing second half contains also one of the smoothest lead sections you'll find in coeval records, before a monstruous dissolvence outro... there is brilliant stuff wherever you look.

I, just like many others before me, appreciate when a band can keep an album's length short, a fact which usually implies that they stood more focused from beginning to end. State of Insurgency just does the complete opposite, and it's perhaps even more admirable because of this. It may be also worth noting that there's only one new song here (the title-track), while the others are all re-recorded from the previous demos; in any way, the overall quality is satisfyingly consistent to the point that you probably didn't even notice this fact before reading this sentence. Hexen admittedly had lots of killer songs that didn't deserve to remain relegated to minor releases (taking advantage of this claim for a shout-out to the amazing 'Heal a Million... Kill a Million' which instead didn't make the cut). With that being said, if you think that 56 minutes are still a bit too much for a thrash album, you may want to exclude a couple songs from the playlist (mine are usually 'Knee Deep in the Dead' and 'The Serpent'), but each one of them is worth at least some spins, you can have my word for it.

Revival thrash just doesn't get better than this – arguably with the only exception of Fog of War's marvelous and virtually unreachable Here Lies Humanity, but this one comes pretty damn close. Everything else is simply doomed to stay behind the scenes every time this beast starts playing.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10