Hexvessel - When We Are Death (Deluxe Edition) (2016)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+log+.cue) | 00:47:35 | 291 Mb
Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock, Progressive Rock | Label: Century Media Records
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+log+.cue) | 00:47:35 | 291 Mb
Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock, Progressive Rock | Label: Century Media Records
It’s always interesting to see how instrument choices and production techniques can have such a strong effect on dating a band or album. Whether it’s the arena-sized, cannon-shot snare drums of the 1980s or the hyper-compressed, extended-range guitars of today, there are a host of characteristics within rock and metal that can instantly transport a listener into another landscape. Hexvessel, however, seem to have been frozen in time, specifically 1973. With their third LP, When We Are Death, this Finnish sextet have come back after four years with an organic and somewhat convincing throwback record that suffers from an unfortunate predilection for exact simulation of the past.Tracklist:
Aside from the clean and spacious mixing job, there is no reason one wouldn’t believe When We Are Death was written by an underground sensation from the golden age of classic rock. Combining the quirky electric organ flourishes of The Doors with Comus’ folk-infused darkness and Black Widow’s affinity for the occult, this album is an undeniable force of psychedelic-fueled proficiency. Hell, even the amazing piano intro to “Cosmic Truth” sounds like it was directly lifted out of Richard Wright’s playbook. All eleven tracks here are awash in LSD, caked with psilocybin and garnished with a healthy serving of dope too. One brief look at just about any of the album’s lyrics will certainly give away that these guys and gals are certainly advocating for introspection through the use of mind-altering substances.
Luckily though, things never get too carried away or lost in preachy lyrics or self-indulgent jam sections. When We Are Death is rooted firmly in fairly-traditional and digestible songwriting and also boasts a healthy number of catchy choruses that can be hummed back immediately. Frontman/guitarist Mat McNerney’s versatile and dynamic performances on here are perhaps the album’s highlight. Ranging from the sensitive moments of “Mirror Boy,” the freakouts of “When I’m Dead,” or the downright stunning “Teeth of the Mountain,” McNerney shows his mastery of propelling the band’s ideas to new heights.
Instrumentally speaking, When We Are Death shows a band that certainly knows how to interlock parts at an impressive level right out of the gate. “Transparent Eyeball” is a positively awesome opener, showing that every member understands their role within the group quite well and understand the natural dynamics that each song carries. This song and “Mushroom Spirit Doors” are perhaps the band’s two most competent instrumental tracks, as they both seamlessly weave and twist through various time and key signature changes without ever coming across as forced or awkward. Hexvessel also seem to avoid solo sections almost entirely on this album, forsaking the individual for the collective. That being said, the guitar tone on here leaves a bit to be desired. Songs like the triplet-heavy “Drugged Up on the Universe” and “Shaman You” could have really been accelerated further with a slightly grittier tone, but unfortunately we’re left with something that feels a bit flat for the standards of rock music we have in 2016.
When We Are Death may suffer from a few odd mixing choices the album’s last two tracks don’t keep the momentum going, but this record is still one of the better things you’ll hear from this current generation of “retro” bands. While groups like Ghost and Opeth (specifically their past two releases) can really seem to make 70s throwback ideas seem a bit forced and hokey at times, Hexvessel exude way more confidence in what they’re putting out there. This is not to be missed if you’re a fan of psychedelic rock, folk, or old-school prog.
01. Transparent Eyeball
02. Earth Over Us
03. Cosmic Truth
04. When I’m Dead
05. Mirror Boy
06. Drugged Up On The Universe
07. Teeth Of The Mountain
08. Green Gold
09. Mushroom Spirit Doors
10. Hunter’s Prayer
11. Last Lovers In Hell (Bonus Track)
Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015
EAC extraction logfile from 30. June 2016, 16:38
Hexvessel / When We Are Death
Used drive : ATAPI iHAS124 W Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\FLAC Frontend\tools\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:27.63 | 0 | 24587
2 | 5:27.63 | 3:28.46 | 24588 | 40233
3 | 8:56.34 | 4:31.72 | 40234 | 60630
4 | 13:28.31 | 4:38.17 | 60631 | 81497
5 | 18:06.48 | 4:17.54 | 81498 | 100826
6 | 22:24.27 | 3:41.45 | 100827 | 117446
7 | 26:05.72 | 4:03.49 | 117447 | 135720
8 | 30:09.46 | 3:30.25 | 135721 | 151495
9 | 33:39.71 | 5:32.39 | 151496 | 176434
10 | 39:12.35 | 4:40.21 | 176435 | 197455
11 | 43:52.56 | 3:42.23 | 197456 | 214128
Track 1
Filename H:\#flac rips\01 Hexvessel - Transparent Eyeball.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3E64BC9C
Copy CRC 3E64BC9C
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [EFC0FA31] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename H:\#flac rips\02 Hexvessel - Earth Over Us.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.48
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EF884314
Copy CRC EF884314
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [D224AB10] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename H:\#flac rips\03 Hexvessel - Cosmic Truth.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.89
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A3188C9D
Copy CRC A3188C9D
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [7878FF4D] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename H:\#flac rips\04 Hexvessel - When I'm Dead.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.22
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.5 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 9A02F277
Copy CRC 9A02F277
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [AF64E3B7] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename H:\#flac rips\05 Hexvessel - Mirror Boy.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.57
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 38B25D30
Copy CRC 38B25D30
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [826A6C44] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename H:\#flac rips\06 Hexvessel - Drugged Up on the Universe.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.04
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B9D7FD7D
Copy CRC B9D7FD7D
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6DDBA67D] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename H:\#flac rips\07 Hexvessel - Teeth of the Mountain.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.45
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC EFA2030B
Copy CRC EFA2030B
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [B744F932] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename H:\#flac rips\08 Hexvessel - Green Gold.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.58
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 7CE703E5
Copy CRC 7CE703E5
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [A4FFACD9] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename H:\#flac rips\09 Hexvessel - Mushroom Spirit Doors.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.17
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 76BF2848
Copy CRC 76BF2848
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [2E18B1AA] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename H:\#flac rips\10 Hexvessel - Hunter's Prayer.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.66
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5CE91F70
Copy CRC 5CE91F70
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [174792FA] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename H:\#flac rips\11 Hexvessel - Last Lovers in Hell (Bonus Track).wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.06
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 717FDBBD
Copy CRC 717FDBBD
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6F48660F] (AR v2)
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: 7cKfRNMrTxogpCQGCDBDszWJmNo-] found
Submit result: 7cKfRNMrTxogpCQGCDBDszWJmNo- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
2 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
3 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
4 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
5 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
6 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
7 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
8 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
9 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
10 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
11 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum 95EFCA2EAB210A8CCA47298C3FFF368B7561D368C325182E9F7D88272FA67426 ====
EAC extraction logfile from 30. June 2016, 16:38
Hexvessel / When We Are Death
Used drive : ATAPI iHAS124 W Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\FLAC Frontend\tools\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:27.63 | 0 | 24587
2 | 5:27.63 | 3:28.46 | 24588 | 40233
3 | 8:56.34 | 4:31.72 | 40234 | 60630
4 | 13:28.31 | 4:38.17 | 60631 | 81497
5 | 18:06.48 | 4:17.54 | 81498 | 100826
6 | 22:24.27 | 3:41.45 | 100827 | 117446
7 | 26:05.72 | 4:03.49 | 117447 | 135720
8 | 30:09.46 | 3:30.25 | 135721 | 151495
9 | 33:39.71 | 5:32.39 | 151496 | 176434
10 | 39:12.35 | 4:40.21 | 176435 | 197455
11 | 43:52.56 | 3:42.23 | 197456 | 214128
Track 1
Filename H:\#flac rips\01 Hexvessel - Transparent Eyeball.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3E64BC9C
Copy CRC 3E64BC9C
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [EFC0FA31] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename H:\#flac rips\02 Hexvessel - Earth Over Us.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.48
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC EF884314
Copy CRC EF884314
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [D224AB10] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename H:\#flac rips\03 Hexvessel - Cosmic Truth.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.89
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.6 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A3188C9D
Copy CRC A3188C9D
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [7878FF4D] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename H:\#flac rips\04 Hexvessel - When I'm Dead.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.22
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.5 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 9A02F277
Copy CRC 9A02F277
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [AF64E3B7] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename H:\#flac rips\05 Hexvessel - Mirror Boy.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.57
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.5 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 38B25D30
Copy CRC 38B25D30
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [826A6C44] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename H:\#flac rips\06 Hexvessel - Drugged Up on the Universe.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.04
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B9D7FD7D
Copy CRC B9D7FD7D
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6DDBA67D] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename H:\#flac rips\07 Hexvessel - Teeth of the Mountain.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.45
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC EFA2030B
Copy CRC EFA2030B
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [B744F932] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename H:\#flac rips\08 Hexvessel - Green Gold.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.58
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 7CE703E5
Copy CRC 7CE703E5
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [A4FFACD9] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename H:\#flac rips\09 Hexvessel - Mushroom Spirit Doors.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.17
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 76BF2848
Copy CRC 76BF2848
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [2E18B1AA] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 10
Filename H:\#flac rips\10 Hexvessel - Hunter's Prayer.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:00.66
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 5CE91F70
Copy CRC 5CE91F70
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [174792FA] (AR v2)
Copy OK
Track 11
Filename H:\#flac rips\11 Hexvessel - Last Lovers in Hell (Bonus Track).wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.06
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 717FDBBD
Copy CRC 717FDBBD
Accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6F48660F] (AR v2)
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: 7cKfRNMrTxogpCQGCDBDszWJmNo-] found
Submit result: 7cKfRNMrTxogpCQGCDBDszWJmNo- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
2 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
3 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
4 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
5 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
6 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
7 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
8 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
9 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
10 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
11 | (19/19) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum 95EFCA2EAB210A8CCA47298C3FFF368B7561D368C325182E9F7D88272FA67426 ====
Thanks to the Original ripper sludgelord !