Wisconsin's Jex Thoth is a pretty mysterious person...though she's got a few releases with the band that sports her name, as well as appearances with Sabbath Assembly & Wooden Wand, not much overall is known about her. What we do know is that she's possessed with an enchanting, intoxicating voice, which is once again readily apparent on her latest release Blood Moon Rise for I Hate Records. Labeled as 'occult rock' for lack of a better term, the music of Jex Thoth is steeped in mysticism, laden with doom elements, with prog & classic rock thrown into the mix for good measure. Her alluring vocals just float over doom riffing and engaging prog-rock styled Hammond organ on the monstrous "The Divide", while "Into a Sleep", with its dreamy, folk-metal arrangements, just sweeps the listener off his or her feet. Plenty of psychedelia in "Keep Your Weeds", while "Ehja" and "The Places You Walk" once again places Thoth's soaring vocals over bleak, minimalistic, doom encrusted passages. For out and out heavy riffage, there's the crushing "The Four of Us Are Dying", and the chilling, near 9-minute "Psyar" is probably as close as you can get to what the so called 'occult metal' is really all about.
Pretty intriguing stuff here on Blood Moon Rise, and while those into more upbeat forms of music might be left wanting, if you prefer haunting, melodic doom with flashes of folk, prog, and psychedelia, this one has much to offer. Oh yeah, and that voice...magnificent!
Track Listing
1) To Bury
2) The Places You Walk
3) The Divide
4) Into a Sleep
5) And the River Ran Dry
6) Keep Your Weeds
7) Ehja
8) The Four Of Us Are Dying
9) Psyar