HEX

It took Bigelf three years to release a follow-up to their masterful Money Machine and they came back with a much longest release which clocked at an hour's length.

The new addition to the band comes in a for of Ace Mark on guitar which now makes this band of semi-Finnish descent! Considering that Bigelf have spent quite a few years recording and touring Sweden they have definitely spawned roots here in Scandinavia so I'm not really sure that the whole California band-tag is really applicable anymore.

Hex begins with probably the most well recognized composition in the band's repertoire entitled Madhatter. The song has so far been performed at every Bigelf show that I've attended and it's also notable for Damon Fox disguise since he usually wears a tall hat when the band performs the composition. Being a huge fan of Gabriel eras-Genesis I really appreciate this nice touch because it definitely touches upon the whole '70s art rock phenomenon that is so close to my heart.

It's great when a band records a lot of material but at the same time it becomes a bit of a problem here since Hex is far from a linear album in its design. I love almost all of these compositions although there are a few straightforward rock tunes that I could have done without, but that's a natural consequence of trying to appeal to a wider audience. The album does have two quite interesting ideas working for it where the first one consists of the Bats In The Bulfry song trilogy. The first two parts are featured on this album while part III is available on The Madhatter EP which was released just before this studio album. The fact that part II comes before part I actually makes this whole concept a reverse such and it confused the fans who bought the EP only to find out a song titled Bats In The Bulfry III on it. If anything, at least it's a brilliant market scheme that definitely appealed to collectors like me.

The album ends on a short bonus track entitled $ which is preceded by a short silent track. Everyone who has heard the band's latest studio offering will probably recognize this track as an early take of Money, It's Pure Evil which is also the first single from Cheat The Gallows. This is actually a very interesting addition to the album especially considering that the band took a brief hiatus before releasing their follow-up album.

***** star songs: Bats In The Bulfry I (7:43)

**** star songs: Madhatter (4:18) Bats In The Belfry II (3:30) Pain Killers (3:20) Disappear (6:33) Falling Bombs (4:58) Black Moth (6:06) Carry The Load (5:37) Burning Bridges (6:51) $ (2:08)

*** star songs: Rock & Roll Contract (5:30) Sunshine Suicide (4:16)