Six Organs Of Admittance - Hexadic
- Written by Kenneth McMurtrie
Seldom do artists make up their own system of musical composition but if, like Ben Chasny, you feel somewhat constrained by the orderliness imposed upon you by the currently accepted systems then why not step out and do just that? Chasny birthed his Hexadic System over a period of two years and Hexadic the album is the result of his application of the system.
As a layman & someone unable to read any tablature or what have you, whether the music recorded here is written down or not doesn't matter to me but that even the noisiest, most avant garde songs on the planet must be isn't really a surprise. You need some record so as to be able to repeat them live I imagine. There is more to this record than just freeform thrashes.
Except, if the information above wasn't readily available, you'd probably have no idea that was the case based solely on listening to the nine tracks of Hexadic. Yet the likes of 'Hesitant Grand Light' and 'Future Verbs' are there as testaments to the amount of thought applied to the governing system, the application of which is also purported to be one that "anyone can use to restructure their ways of habit". Whether this is actually the first step in a revolution of thought and action, let alone in musical composition remains to be seen but, at the basic level of things resembling free jazz, this is an exciting start to the year.
By the time you reach the final two tracks ('Vestige' & 'Guild') the hairs on the back of your neck will very likely be erect, such is the atmosphere of suspense created by their shimmering, Goblinesque dynamic married to a hefty dose of guitar virtuosity on the latter. An album of many layers that requires a number of listens to fully appreciate.
