Band:	Hex
Album:	God Has No Name
Style:	Doom death metal
Release date:	July 2019

01. Thy Kingdom Gone
02. Soulsculptor
03. Worshipping Falsehood
04. Daevangelism - The Dark Sunset
05. Where Gods Shall Not Reign
06. Apocryphal
07. All Those Lies That Dwells...

Tension-building drums, spoken lyrics, foreboding atmospheric sounds, vocalist Jonathan Garcia growling "Who has chosen whom?", and then a flattening riff that absolutely demolishes your inner being. Well begun is half done.

But even with the convincing start that is "Thy Kingdom Gone", upon first full encounter with God Has No Name I had the feeling that this was just another well performed doom-laden death metal album that wouldn't probably get a top spot in my listening rotation. Luckily, I own a physical copy of this release and I generally tend to give my CDs a lot more chances that the ones my digital files get. It's not that Hex do anything very complicated, just that with so many releases every week it's kind of hard to pay attention. So, I am glad that I did.

Hex draw their inspiration by UK icons Bolt Thrower and early Paradise Lost, as well as from Scandinavian classics such as Runemagick, and Dutch death metal stalwarts Gorefest and Asphyx. However, they manage to blend these influences and craft their own distinctive sound, which is a step up from their debut both in songwriting and sound. Deadly Sin was largely an OSDM-loving release and Hex have maintained the ability to create memorable and very headbangable riffs, but they have also made things more surprising by complementing these riffs with stunning female vocals by Haydée Mariñoso in "Where Gods Shall Not Reign", spoken parts, like the sample of Gary Oldman's speech in The Scarlet Letter that works as a bridge connecting the ending of "Worshipping Falsehood" with the beginning of "Daevangelism - The Dark Sunset", and even breakdowns, which enhance the enjoyment of the final track, "All Those Lies That Dwells..." (grammar people!).

The essence is mainly mid-tempo death metal with few exceptions, particularly in the bludgeoning "Apocryphal". The production is crystal clear, something that I don't generally enjoy in my death metal, but in this album it helps accentuate the skilful drum performance and above all the bass, which is absolutely killer. As I've already said, the riffs are the size of wrecking balls, however the soloing department is underrepresented quantity-wise, given the technical proficiency of the guitar players.

At less than 38 minutes of runtime God Has No Name does not drag one bit and one additional song wouldn't actually harm it. That said, in an album that has no filler material, I would be the first one complaining if there was an extra track that didn't match the quality of the rest, so ignore my incoherent complaints and head over at Bandcamp to check this antitheist banger out.

"There's no heaven
There's no fucking God"