Hekátē

Reviews

Hekátē Μαύρη Τρύπα LP

HEKÁTĒ out of Athens, Greece recently released their second full-length album, entitled Μαύρη Τρύπα. Dark-tinged instrumentals support vocals that occasionally remind me of KLEENEX/LILIPUT. Synth work drives this album, with the tones ranging from traditional organs to unhinged vintage futurism. However, HEKÁTĒ came to rock, and with tracks like “Tears of Blood” and “Riccochet,” HEKÁTĒ uses a heavy dose of bass in their rhythm section to get the toes tapping. Lyrically, HEKÁTĒ pulls no punches and delivers social criticism through an anarcho-punk lens, with about fifty percent of the lyrics being in English and the rest in Greek. In all, Μαύρη Τρύπα is stacked with punk bangers and contains enough “off-the-beaten-path” experimentation to make it something really special.

Hekátē Μέρες Οργής / Days of Wrath LP

Synth-punk with a deathly pallor from Athens, a take-no-shit attitude nevertheless prevails in what appears to be HEKÁTĒ’s debut release. Ping-ponging between Greek and English for their lyrics, an organ sounds like it’s set to overheat on “Καλοκαίρι 2018,” while “Soapbox” is—in sentiment more than music—as dead-on as first-wave Riot Grrrl’s finest (“You get in my way and fuck up my day / You push me aside then ask me to smile / Ugh!”). A bumpin’ goth-punk bassline and psych-flecked keyboard swirl backs up Lydia’s reverbed-up vox on “Cul-De-Sac,” which along with “Ψυχαναγκασμός” comes off like ES trying out a WARSAW / STRANGLERS gene-splice, unlikely an occurrence as that might in reality be.”Αθήνα,” which closes the album, is billed as a collection of field recordings from Athens, and encompasses some sort of (possibly) tavern-bound balladry, smashing glass, thunder (or are those bombs?) and police sirens. Pretty skillfully assembled, actually, and doesn’t jar with an otherwise rocking set of post-punk.