Hex’s New EP ‘Calling To the Universe’ Brings the Riffs of Black Sabbath and the Vocals of Enya

Hex are three strong and inspiring women from Wellington who create sonic spells inspired by nature and Papatūānuku, the Mother Earth. Liz Matthews, GG Van Newtown and Kiki Van Newtown, started recording the five tracks on their new EP Calling to the Universe nearly four years ago, but due to a number of factors including life and raising young children, the much anticipated album is only just being released.

Taking in elements of folk, metal and punk, the music of Hex is much like a potion of bark and crisp apple juice. It can be both gritty and sweet and most of it reflects back to nature and the earth.

Hex bring their wishbones and tarot cards to Auckland’s Golden Dawn this Friday to launch Calling to the Universe.

Take a listen to “Wives”, a track from the EP, and read a short interview with Kiki, Liz and GG below.

NOISEY: You describe yourselves as ‘pagan folk metal’ but there is a lot of melody on songs like Albatross” and “Wives”. Are there darker more metal or folk elements on Calling to the Universe?
Kiki Van Newtown: Calling to the Universe is heavy, but with lots of layered vocals. Our riffs tend towards Black Sabbath, but our vocals are more like Enya.

Liz Mathews: We’re all from different musical backgrounds so our music tends to come out as a weird mixture. We don't sound strictly like a metal band, but because of Greta's metal background, our songs come out with that element.

GG Van Newtown: I grew up with Jesus Christ Super Star and the Conan the Barbarian soundtracks, so there’s a hint of the great rock opera in there too.

What attracts you to paganism? Do you identify with witches?
Kiki: I grew up really close with my Nana who was what I guess you could call a witch. She practiced tarot and astrology and had a special wooden cabinet where she kept her shrine and spells. It feels like a hidden history but it’s definitely growing, people are returning to magic.

GG: The things that shape me are gardening, music, birth, death, being an animal living on the earth, the elements and forces of nature. Using my intuition, being thankful for what I have, delaying the gratification, living simply so that others can simply live. I think many people are witches who embrace the hidden wisdom that is already inside us.

Liz: For me it’s the way technology is moving into our lives. The immediacy of everything from information to music keeps people floating on the surface, and conversations are often cut short by a quick Google. My interest in old ways of understanding the world and my belief in magic allow me to stay sane in the modern world. I try to be in nature every day.

Kiki: I think when you strip it all back, it’s fundamentally very human to understand the earth as your life giving mother. People just get distracted from this by religion and politics.

Imagery and symbolism plays a part of your music. Things like the illustration from Mervyn Peake's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner series. Who writes lyrics. What is your inspiration?
Kiki: Greta and I both write lyrics. My lyrics are pretty nerdy. I did an English degree and had to read a million books by white dudes. This was pretty influential to me in terms of style, but also a great canvas to explore everything I hate about dominant western culture. “Albatross” was inspired by my fear of the breakdown of entire ecosystems. The ocean is such a perfect, delicate performance, and humans have just fucked with it and fucked with it. We literally can’t stop ruining this thing that is crucial to our survival, and so the ocean is dying. So the line from the Coleridge poem, it was meant as a fuck you to white supremacy and capitalism.

Do you play lives shows very often. Do you have similar minded bands or performers in Wellington or New Zealand?
Kiki: We’ve been playing quite a bit over the past summer and we’ve had the luck of playing with some awesome acts including Mermaidens, Dan Melchior, The Raskolnikovs, Waterfalls, Womb and Terror of the Deep.

GG: Yeah, there are so many musicians in Aotearoa that we love like Bek Coogan, Ducklingmonster, The Moonlight, Evil Ocean, Kraus, Pumice, CUTSS, Civil Union, Strange Stains, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. We’re spoilt!

'Calling To The Universe' is available May 13 via Sloth Records.

Catch Hex at these shows:
May 13 – Auckland at Golden Dawn with Civil Union
May 14 – Auckland at Whammy Bar