Sutekh Hexen, a black metal/noise project from Oakland, CA, have one of my favorite about pages in the history of black metal band descriptions: “There are in the abyss architects building great temples…Amid splinter and nail, among cavern and spire, we find the black temples of Sutekh Hexen. Here, finely woven shrouds of static hang from clattering bones…”

After releasing three short demos, three EPs and a box set, Sutekh Hexen issued their full length, Luciform, almost four years ago, in August 2011. It was the first almost corporeal manifestation of the band’s subterranean machinations—the image of shrouds of static hanging off long-forgotten bones is an apt one to evoke. I imagine the bones hanging in Sutekh Hexen’s temple as forgotten black metal structures and the now-ancient concept of The Riff, and the shrouds as sheets of harsh noise and power electronics, billowing in the wind. The cover of the album looks like an image created by a hollow earth theory enthusiast, that underground lair Sutekh Hexen probably crawled out of.

I’ve written before about how I got into metal through noise. My original crossover point was through drone/doom, but finding bands like Sutekh Hexen and Wold and albums like Ulver’s Nattens madrigal that mixed black metal and noise really sold me on the whole deal. It’s why bands that blur boundaries, not even limited to those that incorporate noise, are my favorites.

It’s the potential for noise music to be transcendental that brings me back to the genre, always. It’s about picking up random patterns and beautiful tones out of static, like the beginning of “In Worship, They Weep His Name,” where layers and layers of biting static bounce the original notes of the introduction off of each other until a black fog descends over the whole song.

The idea of ritual is central to Sutekh Hexen, coming from that dark transcendence they find in their music. In a cryptic quote from an interview, band member Kevin Gan Yuen explained (or didn’t explain), “the genesis of this project was based on esoteric thought, values and occurrences from various cultural perspectives.” It’s certainly not ritual ambient, but there are some influences, including the creepy chanting and doom-y introduction at the beginning of “Serpents.”

And, of course, the addition of black metal to the mess of noise on Luciform returns great results. “The Hermetic” is just nuts: growled vocals over frantic guitar work, ugly and angry. The tension between the idea of release through chaotic noise and structured ritual is fascinating on “The Hermetic” and throughout Luciform.

I was wondering if I would destroy the illusions created by Sutekh Hexen by writing about their music. I even read a few interviews with the band, and they seem like fairly normal people, talking about working with labels and listening to NWOBHM. But no, the sense of mystery and uncharted depths within each of their releases remains.

Pro tip: Sutekh Hexen have their entire discography available at their website, sutekhhexen.org. But for now, here’s a sample—check out Luciform‘s first track, “The Great Whore,” below:

-Joy