Released on: 18th May 2018
There are some things that are transcend the regular notions of time. Music itself is a form of time travel. Like a photograph it captures the essence of a mood or moment for later exploration.
The name Hekate comes from an arcane Greecian Goddess who presided over witchcraft. And like the Goddess the band practice a skill that could charm the dead into dancing. With their new album Totentanz, their sixth full-length and first in seven years, they cast dazzling psychic energy into the world beyond and bring it back forth into the interest of their audience.
Totentanz is an classy neo-folk album rich with dark romanticism. Approaching lyrical ideas based around mortality and other life-affirming ideals. Even going so far as to incorporate cultural favourite Mondnacht by Prussian poet Joseph von Eichendorff into their mortal musings. And to great effect. Adding an eerieness to his dreamlike countryside.
Almost a cultural landmark for hidden arts Hekate are true to their name and deliver secrets from another hidden world. As they feature artwork and inspiration from unpronounced German artist Hermann Wöhler whose work has largely remained hidden until recently and who also explored ideas of magical realism, albiet in pictures.
Hekate portray their magic with music. Using artificial machinery to make organic sounds. And also real depopularized instruments to create a mysterious allure towards thoughts just outside of human comprehension. There comes a point where the passages on Totentanz become more like beautiful ritual epiphanies than ambient pop music and this makes it an entrancing and dangerous listen for wherever your mind may wander.
8/10
