A trio made up of two-thirds Asteroid and one-third Dead Man, it’s a safe bet that whatever Hexan does, it’s going to be space-licious and ultra-Swedish. Such proves to be the case with the three tracks the new outfit/side-project have posted over on their Facebook page. The songs are instrumental and classically jammed out, less like the interludes on Asteroid‘s brilliant II album than one might think. Rather, it seems guitarist Robin Hirse and bassist Johannes Nilsson are genuinely exploring a different musical side of the jam. It’s less about fuzz and more about exploration.

It’s an admirable turn for Nilsson and Hirse to make, and drummer Jonas Askerlund proves equally able to keep up and take the lead on “Baba Yaga,” deftly adding wide-spaced cymbals to the noodling guitar and bass, grounding the song and emphasizing its twists at the same time. Nilsson‘s tonal warmth is a standout on that track as well, and as the only vocals present are a shouted-out “alright!” I can’t help but agree.

If, like me, you’ve spent the better part of this year worshiping at the foot of Asteroid‘s II, then you could only be doing yourself a favor in checking out Hexan. The third of the three tracks from the Örebro trio, “Hexuba,” proves the most Asteroid-esque, with Hirse‘s guitar driving the song in a manner similar to “Edge” from the aforementioned numerically-titled record. As that album was jammier than its predecessor, it’s not really a surprise to hear Hirse and Nilsson go off in that direction, and with Askerlund as a suitable companion, I can only eagerly await Hexan‘s first release. Till then, feel free to dig on the tracks in the player below.

Tags: Hexan, Örebro, Sweden, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 at 2:57 pm and is filed under On the Radar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.