Hextar - Doomsayer (2024)

4★

When we first started Metal Militia, I remember seeing this crop up in the list of promos we’d be receiving, and everything from the band name to the artwork made me interested. So finally, when the promo came, I listened to it immediately and thought it was great. While perhaps not the most original band I’ve ever heard, they do the “power metal with lots of melody and ripping guitars” sound very well. The vocals are on the edge for me as the English pronunciations (HEXTAR are Italian) are iffy and some notes could use a little help, but it has this really lovely charm to it that I just adore. Even then, some of the vocal melodies on here are totally infectious and righteously catchy. Aside from that, this thing riffs hard. It has this thrashy/speedy quality to it that gives us some massive riffs drenched in melody and pair that with the frenetic drumming? Man, oh man, we’ve got a hell of a record on our hands here – even the bass parts are kinda sick when you’re in the right environment to actually hear them! Overall, I think this is a great record from HEXTAR and as they continue, I believe them to only get better and better. If you like any of the below-mentioned bands, give this one a whirl!

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Nothing is Eternal,” “Hour of Glory,” “The Story So Far”

FOR FANS OF: Helloween, Blind Guardian, Scanner

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Originally published in Aug. '24 (Issue No. 4)