01. Kagemni 02. Luna Moth Speaks 03. Tauti

Originally I learned about this band through the pinnacle of today's internet culture called MySpace. It was just a bulletin message from a doom metal maniac that was praising a new band, with phrases like "I haven’t heard something so scary since Pagan Altar's Vol. 1". I say, hey that sounds bold, yet very interesting. I knew little of what my ears would meet when I listened to the tracks in their page. Since then, I was anxiously waiting for their first release, this EP presented here. The waiting is finally over.

First of all, I have to inform you that the band changed it's name to JEX THOTH, which is basically the name of the singer (leader?) of the band and, as it seems, the basic composer and idealist behind the group. If so far you didn't have any strong clue of what kind of music the band plays, then know that its music grabs influences from any vintage heaviness you can think of, while enriching its sound with space rock experimentations and jams without forgetting to add some psychedelia sparkles all over the whole result. This 3 song piece that we have here, is the band's first recording and it seems necessary to describe each song severally. "Kagemni" starts with a standard doom metal riff coming from the vaults of an imaginary 70s ancestor of St. Vitus, to be followed by a spooky melody that was probably the backup sound for an Apache tribe witch doctor in order to summon rain, girls or whatever the old wiz wanted. The combination of this two musical pieces sets up the foundation for everything else that continues, especially the atmosphere of the whole EP that has an mystical western flavour all over it (to give you a more specific idea of this, I was constantly thinking of Jarmush’s "Dead Man" while listening to it. I hope you get the picture now). Then Jex's voice enters the ceremony. It seems that when this woman was born, two vocal angels stood beside her and sang their blessings – one of Light and one of Darkness. The first one, Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane), gave the elements of sensitivity and sweetness while the other, Jinx Dawson (Coven), poured all the evil she could master in order to bring balance in the little one's voice. Thus, Jex can sound terrible and fearful while in the next moment her voice is the cutest thing imaginable. Muddy doom riffs continue to drag some abstract background guitar and keyboard sounds while the next song "Luna Moth Speaks" enters with a good doze of hammond and a huge riff that makes you want to bang your head on a wall. Jex's voice shines again with the chorus being the brightest moment, definitely one of the EP's highlights. Her singing here is mesmerizing and sends a strong shivering wave to pass through your spine.

Keeping in touch with "Luna Moth Speaks", the 10 minute opus "Tauti" breaks in reminding us that hammond is indeed a seriously heavy organ, especially if it is in league with an equally crushing riff. The drums are pounding in a ritualistic rhythm when suddenly everything stops and the organ acts as a prelude to a trippy improvisation delirium where all the instruments are just acting crazy, I can't put it in any other way. If "Kagemni" was a simple ghost dance, then "Tauti" is the aural equivalent of a Sweat Lodge rite, where you enter a tent full of smoke and experience all kinds of hallucinations. In a similar way to this act, after the exhausting experience of "Tauti" you feel a certain degree of catharsis within you, while noticing that "Totem" has reached its end. Best song of the year? Time will tell.

Trust me. The above descriptions are too poor to capture the emotions that "Totem" gives to you. It is enough to declare this band the most talented and promising the "genre" has seen recently and it just makes us more impatient for their "The Banishment" full length, expected to be released soon under the alias of JEX THOTH. The ritual has begun, please join in...

www.myspace.com/totemdoom
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