Konačno metal album godine! Jex Thoth (ex Totem) i njihov istoimeni album je pravo osvježenje. Alchemic, doom, gloom metal, kako god to nazvali ovo je odlično!
Jedan od rijetkih albuma ove godine koji sam poslušao više od dvaputa!
Jex Thoth odlično miješaju psihodeliju Jefferson Airplanea, okultne teme, rami Black Sabbath, "mutnu produkciju", folk insturmente (bouzouki, flute) te uz pomoć fenomenalnog ženskog vokala stvaraju stvarno nešto posebno.



Jex Thoth:
Jex Thoth: vocals, oracles, muse
Silas Paine: guitars, bouzouki, flute
Grim Jim: bass, guitars
Zodiac: keyboards, studio wizardry
Johnny Dee: drums, percussion

Jex Thoth is released on I Hate Records.



Jex Thoth - Nothing left to die








Is there such a thing as lof-fi gothic metal? Jex Thoth is the singer of the band that was named after her and her vocals float on top of the slow moving doom inspired backing. There is a feel of the basement and the garage in the recordings of this Californian band, who is likely to be dreaming of big budgets and extensive studio time.
Jex Thoth: Jex Thoth

The surprise instrument on their self-titled album is the bouzouki, an instrument that normally features prominently in the folk tradition of Greece. The lyrics feature the usual sword and sorcery magic stuff -- albeit thankfully way better written than the Xena Warrior crap. Double the darkness in an Anne Rice novel and you get the picture.

(from: http://blogger.xs4all.nl - ovdje pročitajte i kratki interviju sa članovima benda!)



Jex Thoth does not fall into predetermined categories. Its sound is far from “stoner rock” or cookie-cutter doom often associated with similarly thunderous metal-leaning urchins. Rather, Jex Thoth is a bright shining phoenix rising from the drudgery of predictable metal formalism. Taking its influences from sources obvious (early Danzig, Ozzy) and not so obvious (avant garde chanteuse Catherine Ribeiro, over-the-rainbow psych-folk savant Bobb Trimble), the band, led by the beautiful and commanding goddess Jex, follows its muse wherever it leads them. The band is not afraid to take cues from progressive rock and folk, and the band's debut album (which follows an EP released under the name Totem) marks a huge step forward for Jex Thoth. From the vociferous opener “Nothing Left To Die,” a statement of intent that begins with Jex singing “You think you know me / but you won't believe your eyes,” to an ambitious cover of Bobb Trimble’s psychedelic masterwork “When The Raven Calls,” Jex Thoth is out to prove they are peerless when it comes to intrepid, bone-shaking rock and roll. Reverent while maintaining a defiantly original sound, Jex Thoth embraces all that is good about the past and shuttles it defiantly into the future.

(from: http://fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com )




Jex Thoth - The Banishment





Wide and soulful, it sounds too healthy to be coming out of such a wispy and pale pagan priestess seen in the band's press photos. You'd think a cold Northern breeze would blow her away, but not so! Deep as well, her singing anchors the group in a way precious few doom frontmen could, letting the band delve into some tangential psyche and atmospherics.

(from: http://blog.limewire.com )



Did I hear somebody shout out Witch rather loudly? That’s OK, that somebody might have a point. There are plenty of similarities: we see a group of indie musicians who like to play retro-doom / hardrock and hear a guitar player who knows his way around with the wahwah pedal. Both bands are keen to show us they know their music-history. Of course there are differences as well. Jex Thoth succeeds where Witch tries. The singer’s voice will not be everyone’s taste, but if you like it, you have a 50 minute long maelstrom of pure, heavy psychedelic rock, with a green and purple, strangely wavy border.

(from: http://www.lordsofmetal.nl )



Jex Thoth - Equinox suite A the poison pit




A few months ago I was floored by a three-song release by an American band called Totem. Totem sounded like the perfect marriage of Grace Slick and a really doom-ified and folk-ified Black Sabbath. And yes, they did not reply to my humble request for an interview. (Actually, they just did) I thought their music was incredible. Soon after, I found out that Totem were no more, and that a new band comprised of Totem members (now a five piece) was happening. I was elated because that at least meant that those tunes would not perish. They would not fall into a bottomless oblivion. I needed more of their esoteric sound. I needed more of their depth. I needed more of their heaviness, and more importantly I needed more of those vocals. Is the wicked goddess that goes by the name of Jex Toth the incarnation of everything that has been embellished with enchantment? Does her persona signify the encounter of heaviness and a truly sense of the arcane?

Judging by this masterful thirteen song classic, I’d say absolutely yes. Her gorgeous vocals are the perfect match to the solemnity of the music. Jex Toth has a folksy flair you see, one that makes smart use of keyboards and flutes in order to convey a soulful vibe. This is doom, but Jex Toth’s art is not morose, nor sad, nor depressing. Instead, it’s introspective and deep, and slow, and timeless. Two worlds colliding have never offered a more magnificent spectacle. And let’s face it that’s what Totem was and that’s what Jex Thoth is. A meeting moment of the heavy, the slow, the downtuned, the groovy, the psychedelic and the sexy, the provocative, the dominating by sheer smarts, the titillating, the provocative and more. I just ran out of adjectives.

Jex Thoth sounds like molten lava. It sounds like witchery needs to shorten that long pimply nose, it sounds like the idea needs to trade that broom for a rishka. It sounds like we better gather around the fire and get the joints burning.

(from: http://deafsparrow.com )