MAT McNERNEY

Mat McNerney is a British-born, Finland-based composer, singer, and songwriter whose work spans film scoring, television, and a prolific career in music as an artist. Best known as the founder and creative force behind the Finnish folk-rock group Hexvessel, and as the frontman of Grave Pleasures, McNerney brings a rare depth of atmospheric storytelling to his soundtrack work — drawing on decades of experience across folk, psychedelia, ambient, and extreme music.

McNerney's film scoring career began with The World Is Burning (2013), a short film by Canadian director Justin Oakey set in the wilderness of rural Newfoundland. McNerney composed the score, with Hexvessel bandmate Kimmo Helén performing as instrumentalist. The soundtrack was deeply rooted in Newfoundland folk traditions, performed entirely on traditional instruments and released on vinyl and CD via Svart Records. The collaboration marked the beginning of an ongoing creative partnership with Oakey.

In 2019, McNerney scored Oakey's feature film A Fire in the Cold Season, a rural noir thriller that premiered internationally in Iceland and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Cinematography. The film was subsequently released on Netflix internationally and across dozens of countries. (with Kimmo Helén), the score drew on influences ranging from Philip Glass and Ryuichi Sakamoto to Newfoundland folk music, blending straining violins, rustic guitars, and minimalist piano into a haunting and suspenseful sonic landscape. The soundtrack was released by Svart Records in 2021.

McNerney composed the score for The Dogs of Petty Harbour (2023), a docuseries directed by Oakey for Apple TV that follows the history and role of working dogs in the small coastal town of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. The soundtrack took a distinctly intimate approach — warm, homely acoustic compositions evoking the feel of local folk musicians gathered in a pub, with violin and accordion performed by Helén.

In 2024, McNerney was commissioned by Roadburn Festival to create and perform Music for Gloaming: A Nocturne by the Hexvessel Folk Assembly, an entirely original large-scale composition premiered at the festival's main stage in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The performance featured blackened tones, ambient acoustic passages, spectral piano, and a guest appearance from Dødheimsgard's Vicotnik, and was later developed into Hexvessel's seventh studio album, Nocturne (2025).

McNerney's broader musical career provides the foundation for his distinctive approach to scoring. He has been the vocalist and lyricist for Norwegian avant-garde black metal bands Dødheimsgard and Code (nominated for a Norwegian Grammy with the latter), co-founded Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures, and has collaborated with artists including Carpenter Brut, Me & That Man, and Virus. Hexvessel have been nominated for Finnish Emma (Grammy) awards, Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, and Prog Magazine awards. McNerney currently resides in Tampere, Finland.

His scoring work is characterised by a deep sensitivity to landscape, narrative, and folk tradition, combined with an ability to move fluidly between delicate intimacy and expansive, visceral atmosphere.