Hexheart dwell in the cold recesses of the goth mind combining the more accessible moments of TR/ST and Cold Cave with the sinister urges of both the Skinny Puppy and ohGr releases. On Midnight On A Moonless Night, God Module mastermind Jasyn Bangert trades synthetic fury for intimate experimentations in songwriting with glorious results.
“A Thousand Times” is the perfect opener creating a familiar atmosphere as it slinks its way into listeners heads while Bangert asks “What have we become?” but it’s not until “Nothing”, which drops next, that the ball really gets rolling and the full potential of Hexheart is glimpsed. Synthetically bouncy yet eerie with a chorus like “Nothing like love ever lasts/Maybe that’s why you threw it away”, the song is the most indicative of what Midnight… is all about. And that, my friends, is a wonderful thing.
Moving forward, “Stars In Your Eyes” builds a synthetic wall of mysticism as a militaristic programmed beat pounds away. “Second Sight”, on the other hand, turns the album on its head with a Disintegration-style guitar driven ditty that’d make Robert Smith green with envy. Complete with epic synthetic lines that take multiple listens to fully appreciate, the track really shows off the heightened songwriting found throughout Hexheart’s debut.
Guitarist Patrick Hogan catapults “Lunatix”, an industrial banger, while Andrew Pearson lays down more synthetic bliss and Bangert barks sweet nothings into your headspace. “Hollywood” and “Never Understand” follow, the latter of which has a Wang Chung vibe to it, until the haunting yet visceral march of “Faces” stomps towards the inevitable end of the album.
Midnight On A Moonless Night is available from Metropolis Records on June 9th. First single “A Thousand Times” is available now by clicking below while pre-orders for the full-length are currently available here and here.