Double release for Hexorcist!
The Florida-based band is celebrating the release of its second album, Crucificial Imprecations, this year, but Gene Palubicki (vocals, Perdition Temple, Malefic Throne, Demonized, ex-Angelcorpse…), Hexorcist II (bass), Hexorcist III (guitar, Bestialis, Nuclear Christ, ex-Thrash or Die), and Hexorcist IV (drums, Bestialis, Gnosis, ex-Devastator) have also taken advantage of their partnership with Invictus Productions to reissue their debut album, Evil Reaping Death, and their first demo, Bestiarum Vocabulum.
Just to be clear: I’ll solely focus here on Crucificial Imprecations, the new album.
The album opens on a harrowing note with Crucificial Imprecations, the first track featuring a calm introduction, far too calm for the storm that follows, which hits us without mercy, stringing together Old School Death Metal clichés with a mix just dirty enough for us to fully appreciate it. A breather is, of course, an illusory concept, especially when the dissonance of the leads rages alongside the devastating blast beats; then the band gives us a moment to catch our breath before Deconsecration takes over with a similar concept but at half the length, confirming a simple observation: the band strikes fast and hard. Emissary of Evil further reinforces this idea by delivering its own batch of thoroughly twisted old-school riffs to exude its putrid and uncompromising aura, making the rhythm section just as intense as the tempo changes or the arrival of the solo, much like on Unconsecrated, which shows no mercy either to our ears or our necks with a sound that’s as filthy as it is masterfully executed. Lease once again are barely tolerable for the novice listener, but the band follows up with a strange sample on Adverse Sacraments, which begins with a moment of stifling calm before launching into jerky riffing just as powerful as the previous track, accompanied by hoarse roars. If you were hoping for something gentle, I advise you not to count on Hexorcist, another self-titled track that features strident elements bordering on Death/Thrash to underscore the band’s violence or even on Defacing Deities, which, despite its solemn and majestic introduction, redoubles its efforts to deliver a veritable controlled onslaught. The guitar leads naturally build up before leading into the final track, Exordium of Profanation, which makes the guitars wail before letting loose for one last wave of controlled brutality that will delight Death Metal fans and bring the half-hour to a close.
If you think half an hour is too short, just try listening to Crucificial Imprecations all the way through without a break! The album is so intense and ferocious that Hexorcist will have a hard time topping it next time!
95/100
