JEX THOTH (s/t) CD
Everybody should know by now, that this band issued their first release under the monicker TOTEM, so I don't have to mention it. Now in the year 2008 the long-anticipated album is finally out, and again it has been released by I Hate Records. In comparison to the forerunner not much has changed and still JEX THOTH sounds as if early Black Sabbath would share a rehearsel room together with Jefferson Airplane and Coven. However the album is slightly more psychedelic and progressive than the early recordings and especially the organ got more space to unfold its wafty lysergic sound. Sometimes the band surprises with a sudden break as in 'The Banishment' and 'Son of Yule', where they force the pace and break through the dark opium-soaked atmosphere of the album.
The felicitous 'Equinox Suite', which is divided into four different parts, shows that JEX THOTH is also safe in the field of progressive rock and again they make use of different instruments like acoustic guitars, violin or congas. The sentiment of the complete album is almost continuously very melancholic and in some way it's the perfect soundtrack for your next funeral or for a rainy day in autumn. Sometimes the album is a bit to cheesy and too dull for my taste, but there's still the gorgeous, haunting voice of vocalist Jex Thoth, who knows to keep my interest in such moments. Altogether and despite my critique it's a good full-length, but I miss some aggressivness and bite in the sound of JEX THOTH, because in perpetuity the album is too hippie-esque, though 'Nothing Left to Die' is a wonderful song.....
(KK)