Review Summary: Witchy goth rock with extra heaviness creeping in
Hoaxed’s second album presents their witchy post-punk with a noticeably more aggressive edge compared to 2022’s Two Shadows. The guitar and bass tones have gotten grimier, lending themselves to heavier chugs that enhance their creepy aura. The vocals are still mostly driven by ethereal cleans but are prone to throw in the punctuating shriek alongside the harmonies. The Portlanders haven’t fully slid into gothic metal just yet but one can imagine them looking into the abyss contemplating the plunge.
It’s a natural progression as the songs continue the debut’s drive-by delivery with a similarly compact thirty-one minute length. “Where The Seas Fell Silent” starts off where the last album left off with a flash of thunder leading into an infernal groove. Tracks like “Kill Switch” and “The Fallen” show the first signs of that increasing metallic influence, especially with the latter’s escalations into faster blasts.
Once the album reaches the halfway mark, the tensions rise splendidly. “Looking Glass” could’ve easily been a moody interlude filled but its Psycho strings flow into the sweeping symphonies of “Dead Ringer” fabulously. It subsequently makes the bass-heavy onslaught of “Wretched” and the pounding drive on “The Family” that much more impactful. It’s also easy to imagine the strut on the closing “Killing Stone” with a little doom behind it.
While there’s a sense of Hoaxed being just on the edge of something incredible, Death Knocks works quite well in its modest settings. I find myself wondering how these elements could pan out with even more focus on these creeping metal tinges or letting the individual songs stretch out a bit more, but this shorter approach works just as well. It never feels too rushed and the theatrics manage to be effective. It doesn’t need to be the second coming of Messa to hit right.
