Hex Machine

"Clearly huffing fumes from the same grotty gluebag as the Melvins, Hammerhead and The Jesus Lizard, (Run To Earth) is a monolithically gnarly chunk of slavering AmRep noise rock, harking back to that golden age of recklessly overdriven guitar scuzz when uncouth, straggle-haired boys and girls really knew what their battered guitars were made for." 8/10
--Rock Sound - Rock Sound

"Hell yes, I've been looking forward to hearing the new Hex Machine for awhile, it came out earlier this spring but took us awhile to finally get it in stock...I loved their debut album, a crunchy slab of Am Rep worshipping mathy sludge-rock that stomped all over me when I first heard it. I can never get enough of that classic old school noise rock sound that was perfected by bands like Unsane, Cherubs, Hammerhead, early Today Is The Day, etc., and while there has been a huge resurgence in this sound lately, few bands have channeled it and bent it into their own image as well as Richmond's Hex Machine. Omen Mas delivers nine songs of massive lumbering heaviness, super distorted guitars grinding out catchy riffs buried under piles of murky low end and howling feedback, Trevor Thomas yowling over it all with his distorted snarl that kinda sounds like a brattier Chris Spencer from Unsane, the raw production giving this a real vintage sound, and yet there's nothing here to suggest that Hex Machine are merely paying homage to this era of underground rock...they take it and shape it into a seething, slow-building monster, injecting a greasy psychedelic quailty to the guitar leads, the often anthemic riffs building into cathartic high points that bludgeon you at the same time that the hook burrows into yer skull, and throwing around big armfuls of plodding doomy trudge. There are some immensely heavy jams on here, like the short two-minute rager "Pink Whiskey" and the pummeling sludge-rock of "Vivisection", but the band is really on fire when they dig into an extended tension building exercise like the eight minute "Godheads Full Of Candy". There's an angular quality to their riffs that makes this more complex than yer regular Am Rep cult, more metallic too, with hefty levels of ultra-heavy sludginess anchoring most of these tracks to the ground. Bone crushing noise-streaked thuggery that fits right in between the likes of Unsane, Halo Of Flies, Jesus Lizard, Bleach era Nirvana, early Shellac and Hammerhead - if any of these bands turn yer crank, then this is a no-brainer."--Crucial Blast - Adam Wright

Probably the single most interesting band from here in Richmond, Hex Machine has finally released their debut full-length CD, "Omen Mas", via the equally obscure Minimum Underdrive imprint. Picking up where last year's "Run to Earth" 12" left off and running wild with the band's patented take on what seems (rightfully) oft-tagged math metal puréed with that classic AmRep vibe, there's simply no denying the intriguing might of this outfit. On the songwriting front, you'll find everything from taut, crisply performed math metal crunch ("Lunatic Sun") to surprisingly catchy, bass-driven, grunge-encrusted breaks ("Blueprint to Madness", "Vivisection") to forcefully sludgy rhythms and bizarrely noisy textures – all the while with vocals that saunter back and forth from uniquely strained screams with hints of singing to unhinged howls 'n' wails aplenty. Not to mention the back to back run of the 8+ minutes of gnarly, mangled feedback and completely warped chords of "Godheads Full of Candy" beside the less-than-two-minute tear of sliding chords and caustic leads in "Pink Whisky" (which somehow actually reminds me a hell of a lot of early Nirvana, dare I say). The recording this time out is even thicker than before, with massively dense pulses of bass roaming in and out between the natural warmth of the percussion and varying degrees of intensity on the guitar front, while the vocals squirm around and burst forth from the heart of the mix so as not to interfere with any of the group's instrumental twists and turns (unless needed, that is). What more can I say? Huge fan!" --AversionOnline.com - Andrew Westerhouse

"This was a nice surprise, just showed up in the mail one day, and knocked our fucking socks off. These Richmond Virginia noisemakers kick out the face melting, head spinning jams, equal parts gnarled Voivod-ish math metal and grunge infused Amrep style noise rock, the guitars chug and howl and churn, the drums pound, the vocals are all over the place. From howled feral shriek, to punk yelp, to weirdly melodic croon, all wound up into killer, sprawling, epic SONGS. Catchy, tangly, dense, and so heavy.
From pounding midtempo dirges, all Jesus Lizard swagger and lurching Ved Buens Ende lope, to chugging nineties style post rock math metal, the Voivod-ness on tracks like "Lunatic Sun" are undeniable, but they're all tangled up with more modern noise rock like Young Widows or Daughters, a sound at once familiar and retro, but forward looking and utterly headbangable.
"Black Skeleton" opens with a flurry of tangled riffage and chaotic drumming, before locking into a stuttery groove, the vocals wound around the constantly shifting arrangement, and somehow, while all this weirdness and complexity is going on, it manages to be CRAZY catchy and super rocking.
"Godheads Full Of Candy", the 8+ minute centerpiece of the record, unfurls a weird, lumbering, almost Godflesh sounding industrial dirge, with some cool gnarled chug, flurries of double kick, clouds of tripped out processed guitar, eventually launching into some twisted, super mathy angularity, and for the rest of the track, flitting back and forth between the two, with some surprisingly melodic vocals, and yet another bunch of weirdly irresistible hooks.
The second half of the record, sounds weirdly way poppier than the first, to these ears, which is in no way a bad thing, hints of Bleach era Nirvana for sure, especially on record closer "Vivisection", as well as OLD Queens Of The Stoneage, but all twisted up with plenty of the aforementioned noise and math, the result a killer collection of convoluted pop flecked mathy and metallic, noise rock bliss, that we find ourselves unable to stop listening to... " --Andee Connors / Aquarius Records SF - Andee Connors

"This is the sound of blood flowing in the veins, and only those who have
the genetic history can interpret it and live it as if it were
part of your skin and your soul dirty.
Hex Machine born in 2004 at the hands of the guitarist and singer Trevor
Thomas and drummer Dave Witte (later leaked by the
group to pursue Municipal Waste, but that we remember the past
with Burnt By The Sun, Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Human Remains and
Atomsmasher) and after having started with a 7 "on Relapse have
released a 12 "before reaching a 'Omen Mas', working debut
extended. Nine tracks of heavy sound provided by a quartet armato
two guitars, bass and drums which applies in modeling
musical forms which, while incorporating several nuances general, I
I feel in having to fall under the common definition of noise
rock. The link to that precise expressive word, which in the early 90s
experienced a widespread and was able to produce extraordinary album, for
sound and structure, it must be noted and highlighted, as is
still there that the roots of Hex Machine, where reigned
Hammerhead uncontested, Live Skull, Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Unsane,
Godheadsilo, Vertigo, Cherubs, Cows and furious assortita company. But
the formation of Richmond is not only (and is already so) that, since
is well aware of how it is possible and should, go beyond
and so the angular riffs, bass lines and huge buttons and a
drumming to be classified as pachyderm knows evolve
continued with a sound full of dynamics and stratification
instrumental variables for intensity. Here are the songs that are different in
uniformly from each other, since the Hex Machine
can move even in a heavy rock dilated,
metal / math dense, proto grunge and sludge never too mixed.
As of Today Is The Day when the iconoclastic fury is dominated
by reason and even a certain appeal friendly (although not too
friendly ...)! Excellent."


http://www.dagheisha.com/music_section/cd.asp?idus=3812
A cura di Roberto Michieletto @ 22/03/2009

"Questo è il suono del sangue che scorre nelle vene e solo chi ne possiede il patrimonio genetico storico può interpretarlo e viverlo come se fosse parte integrante della propria epidermide e della propria anima sudicia. Hex Machine nascono nel 2004 per mano del chitarrista e cantante Trevor Thomas e del batterista Dave Witte (successivamente fuoriuscito dal gruppo per dedicarsi ai Municipal Waste, ma di cui ricordiamo i trascorsi con Burnt By The Sun, Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Human Remains e Atomsmasher) e dopo aver esordito con un 7” per la Relapse hanno rilasciato un 12” prima di arrivare a ‘Omen Mas’, lavoro di debutto esteso. Nove tracce di pesantezza sonora garantita da un quartetto armato di due chitarre, basso e batteria che si applica nella modellazione di forme musicali che, pur incorporando diverse sfumature generiche, mi sento in dover di far rientrare sotto la comune definizione di noise rock. Il legame con quel preciso verbo espressivo, che nei primi anni ‘90 conobbe una diffusione capillare e seppe produrre album straordinari, per suono e strutture, deve quindi essere rimarcato ed evidenziato, poiché è lì che ancora affondano le radici di Hex Machine, laddove regnavano incontrastati Hammerhead, Live Skull, Jesus Lizard, Melvins, Unsane, Godheadsilo, Vertigo, Cherubs, Cows e compagnia furibonda assortita. Ma la formazione di Richmond non è solo (e sarebbe già tanto) quello, poiché è ben consapevole di come sia possibile, oltre che doveroso, andare oltre ed ecco che i riff spigolosi, le linee di basso massicce e pulsanti e un drumming da classificarsi come pachidermico sanno evolvere in continuazione grazie a un sound ricco di dinamiche e stratificazione strumentali variabili per intensità. Ecco che i brani si differenziano in maniera uniforme gli uni dagli altri, dal momento che gli Hex Machine sanno muoversi anche in contesti heavy rock dilatati, metallico/matematici densi, proto grunge e sludge mai troppo impastati. Come dei Today Is The Day in cui la furia iconoclasta viene dominata dalla ragione e persino da un certo appeal amichevole (pur se non troppo amichevole...)! Ottimi."

- Roberto Michieletto