HEXENBRETT - Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter - LP

It was but May of the cursed year of 2020 when HEXENBRETT truly came into their own with their shockingly masterful debut album, Zweite Beschwörung: Ein Kind zu töten, courtesy of DYING VICTIMS. While the enigmatic duo of Josto Feratu and Scarlettina Bolétte had definitely turned heads with the Erste Beschwörung demo in 2019, their debut album’s idiosyncratic kaleidoscope of Varathron, Jean Rollin, Danzig, Goblin, and Van Halen emerged as completely unique and unlike little else around.

Predictably unpredictable, HEXENBRETT returned the following year with Intermezzo dei quattro coltelli nudi, a crazed ‘n’ crazy EP that was the result of canceled concerts and tours. As suggested by its title, the record was no "beschwörung" but, rather, an intermezzo: for the first time in the then-brief history of HEXENBRETT, this EP did not feature performances by the duo but, instead, the live line-up for 2020 – of course, under the watchful eyes and ears of the clandestine couple. A split EP with fellow Austrian eccentrics Hagzissa followed in 2022, with the duo returning to recorded format.

Josto and Scarlettina continued to refuse playing live but managed to recruit musicians to perform their music on live stages. Their recruits recently finished the IN CONCERTZIONE 2024 European club tour with labelmates DEATHSTORM. During that time, Josto and Scarlettina laid the finishing touches on what would become HEXENBRETT’s second album.

Now, at long last, comes that second full-length to eclipse all that came before. Titled Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter, HEXENBRETT’s second album is a devilish and drama-filled rollercoaster ride through cult metal and cult cinema alike. Arguably more so than their previous recordings, Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter truly encapsulates their demi-tag of "The Sound of the Bloody Iris," for a wide panoply of sounds and sensations swarm the listener, wrapping them in a wild and bewildering but above all kaleidoscopic headspace that easily avoids simple categorization.
While other bands are usually influenced by heavyweights of heavy metal music like Judas Priest or Bathory, HEXENBRETT take their main inspiration from Euro cult cinema and soundtracks; some of the most important names are Sergio Martino, Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, Bruno Nicolai, and Alessandro Alessandroni. One will readily hear that influence here in the prominent usage of vintage synths as well as chimes – the latter both beautiful and ominous – as readily as one will hear guitar leads that are alternately haunting / heroic. But the salient point is that Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter moves in a most filmic fashion – metallic, sure, but this is far, FAR from your Normal Metal Music.

As such, Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter is an amalgamation of love and hate, and represents the duality of birth and death. Its purpose is to enable listeners to escape; it strangles and stabs the status quo of normality. Normality is surrender – escape with HEXENBRETT!