Year of release: 2020
Label: Amor Fati Productions
Rating: 8 / 10
If it has nothing to do with circles associated with the Satanic Skinhead Propaganda, I am very suspicious towards USA Black Metal nowadays: dig deeper, and you will probably found out that there are commie subhumans or just wannabe fuckers stand behind another project. And sometimes you don’t even need to dig, because shit floats on the surface. However, the vast majority of Black Metal and material from the United States is crap anyway. But you can’t get past works like “Snare of All Salvation”.
HÄXANU is another project of a guy named Alex Poole, known for his participation in CHAOS MOON and ENTHEOGEN. In addition, Alex plays in the worthless band KRIEG and actively collaborates with all sorts of pathetic Icelanders. One way or another, talent is talent, and within the framework of HÄXANU, a musician demonstrates his skills in musical alchemy. Knowing that the album is based on occult practices using alchemical knowledge, and looking at its very strict cover, it is easy to imagine something archaic and unhurried, with the cave buzz obligatory for occult albums, the sound of bowls and censer smoke. However, the reality turns out to be the opposite: the album consists of very intense songs, seething with energy.
“Snare of All Salvation” was created according to a popular but difficult recipe used by, say, MGŁA and friendly MISÞYRMING: throw riffs into the cauldron until the brew begins to overflow. There is little room for synthesizer parts, but they rarely play any significant role. They are accompanied by emotional vocals. The charge of the music is simply frantic - as if the author had found his philosopher's stone and now ecstatically pouring boiling liquid gold into the flasks. The process is captivating as hell.
The last track is the absolute apogee of the album, or, forgive me for another alchemical metaphor, its quintessence. If the previous compositions last for 6-6.5 minutes, then this one reaches an almost 18-minute mark. Due to this, in it the musician takes the opportunity to bring synthesizers or semi-acoustics to the forefront, as well as work at an average and low pace. Since the track is regularly diluted with high-speed fragments, it is not perceived as a fifth wheel, but supplements and enriches the rest of the album. 45 minutes fly in the blink of an eye.