HeXeN

One of two heavy metal quartets to adopt the name Hexen at the start of the new millennium—the other originating in New Jersey—this Los Angeles unit came together in 2003. From the outset the group pursued a retro agenda devoted to reviving the classic sounds of 1980s metal and thrash, an approach documented on their independently issued debut, Heal a Million...Kill a Million, which appeared in 2005. Their timing proved premature, however, obliging the band to devote the ensuing years to refining demos and gigging throughout local clubs while the broader resurgence of old-school thrash gained momentum. That resurgence eventually crested with the sudden international arrival of numerous like-minded acts, among them Municipal Waste, Warbringer, Bonded by Blood, and Evile. Hexen’s own opportunity arrived in 2008, when vocalist/bassist Andre Hartoonian, guitarists Ronny Dorian and James Lopez, and drummer Carlos Cruz secured a deal with Old School Metal Records for the band’s second album, State of Insurgency.