Burial Hex

I originally discovered Burial Hex off the split he did with Zola Jesus in 2009. On his Myspace he writes, "Burial Hex is a composition cycle of Horror Electronics to be executed in preparation for thee final mysteries coming in the twilight of this Kali Yuga."

Burial Hex has an extremely intelligent, organic sound. Unlike some artists, he doesn't cash in on dramatic stage performances and a riotous personal life. This is honest, raw sound coming from one man in Wisconsin.

I played the prolific, 18-minute track, "Will To The Chapel" on my radio show last night. Despite being scared shitless listening to it at 3am at the broadcast studio in the basement of an old dorm--it's a mesmerizing track. The thing that BH does so well is his creation of a narrative, the track has a beginning, middle, and end. One gets the sense of watching something germinate, reach its zenith, and then wither away. There's a terrifying humanity to the sound, underneath the distortion and pedal-generated clamor one can hear voices--screaming, wailing, pleading--and the sound takes on an almost cinematic quality. This is industrial with a scathingly human facet.

The man behind Burial Hex, Clay Ruby, should be commended for the sheer volume of material he releases (below is a picture listing every one of his releases to date.) The link below is for the album Initiations, released in 2008 on Aurora Borealis. The album consists of four long tracks, of which "Will To The Chapel" and "River of Los" stand out in particular.

Initiations