Protection Hexes - The Great Turning

"Doom" is a broad genre, covering everything from riffy, psychedelic classic-rock worship to guttural, wall-of-noise, sludge. On their first release, titled The Great Turning, Philadelphia's Protection Hexes create something that is undeniably doom, but that also wanders along the boundaries of the genre to create something compelling. 

First off, this is thematically and aesthetically right up my alley. The record's theme is the decay of industrial civilization and the terrifying hope of what might come after it. This is a theme that, as a midwesterner, I return to often in bands I'm in, and one that I feel that folks from an industrial city like Philadelphia are well-poised to consider. 

Sonically, this album is heavy, sludgey, and ponderous, but in a way that feels like it owes as much to 80s and 90s noise rock as it does to Black Sabbath. The record has a lo-fi quality, like it was recorded with a single microphone inside a concrete tunnel, with distant vocals and rumbling bass, that really clicks well with the apocalypticism of the lyrics and art. Additionally, the trudging, suffocating feel of the record makes the moments when the band kicks into something a little more riffy or psychedelic (take a listen to around 3:15 on track five, for example) really jump out.

Overall, this is a really solid first release. It couldn't be aimed more at me, and I'm really stoked to hear what this band goes on to do. It's PWYW on Bandcamp, so go check it out.