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Finland's Hexvessel returns with its sixth album, Polar Veil, a cold, metallic hymn to the Sub Arctic North. Haunted by primal forest spirits, Mat "Kvohst" McNerney summons the ghosts of his past in a jaw-dropping, unheard-of rebirth of style and sound. At once unmistakably Hexvessel, Polar Veil is also steeped in the nocturnal atmosphere of McNerney's past, churned in the cauldron of black metal, ritual folk psychedelia and doom rock, and echoing with shivering gothic undertones.
"The shift in seasons marks a point in my musical career where Polar Veil was born, a summation of all my work and as close to who I am than I have ever been before. My past, my youth, my formative years as my foundation in Black Metal is my invincible world view. I have removed the flesh, the veil is lifted and underneath is a jet black skeleton of pure merciless nature", comments band mastermind Mat Kvohst McNerney.
Holed up in a homemade studio in his log cabin during winter 2022, McNerney drew on all the fundamental elements of his music career as a shamanic shapeshifter, with only the isolation of nature's solitude as inspiration. Painting an aura with Polar Veil, which resonates with solitary reflection and themes of personal spiritual transcendence, Hexvessel's new album is a bold statement from an artist who continues to reinvent and explore nature mysticism through music.
"Nature represents freedom, darkness and the call of the wild. Black Metal has always been at the borders of my sound and playing, at the heart of everything I do. Tradition, nature, ritual, mythology, mysticism and philosophy, along with clashing and jarring chords have always been synonymous with Hexvessel. It was natural with Polar Veil, finally now as we reach the zenith of the journey, that these influences surface to the human ear, and with the freezing cold guitar sound that the climate here demands".
Polar Veil features Nameless Void from Negative Plane, performing the guitar solo on the songs "Ring" and "Older Than The Gods", while Okoi from Bølzer provides guest vocals. At first, an unlikely partnership but one that makes total sense as the album deepens, and threads can be drawn that reveal the place Polar Veil is coming from.
Now wrap yourselves up nicely in Polar Veil... Link
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