There are three reviews of rereleased HEXENHAUS albums in a row. The first paragraph is the same in all three of them, so of you had read one review already, just skip this bit. Mike Wead is a guitarist that is well known for his work with KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE. What a lot of propel don’t know is that he also was heavily involved in MEMENTO MORI and has collaborated with ABSTRAKT ALGEBRA, BIBLEBLACK and ESCAPE THE CULT. But the start of his career was even earlier than that, in 1987 to be exact, and the name of that band is HEXENHAUS. He was the only constant factor throughout the years, which resulted in four albums in total. The first three of those were recorded before their first stop in 1992 have now been rereleased by the RPM/Roar label. The only that has escaped this feat is “Dejavoodoo” from their second coming, and it was let loose on the world in 1997.

“Awakening” actually was the third album for the band. Originally released in August 1991, while this one hit the streets on 16 may 2025. Thankfully the band has gone back to the same kind of mix of Progressive Metal, Thrash Metal and Heavy Metal that was so very prevalent on their debut album “A Tribute To Insanity”. The only difference is that the sound is just as heavy as it was on their second album “The Edge Of Eternity”, and I have to say that this combination works very well. By giving this a proper remastering, the songs have just gained a little more depth without being different is sound or atmosphere. And I really like that.

“Awakening” is the only one of the three rereleases that is benefitting from an extra song, knowingly the demo version of the title track “Awakening”. Was that necessary? Not really. Is it a nice touch? Yes, definitely. And again, I can’t help but like what I hear musically. You can hear the progress in songwriting that Mike Wead has gone through and HEXENHAUS is profiting from it in the most important way., as I feel this is the best of the three album by a country mile. The composed songs just have that air of confidence, an atmosphere of superiority and a flair and touch that makes me wonder why it wasn’t picked up in droves when it was first released. I feel that “Awakening” really does deserve that, as this could easily compete with a lot of the other releases of the early nineties. Let’s hope they realise what they have missed all those years. Time will tell.