French Blackened Thrash Metallers HEXECUTOR are back with their second album of violence. Out via Dying Victims Productions on September 25th.
Pounding drums and soaring riffs set things off with gloriously impactful Heavy Metal thunder, roaring with 80s anthemic prowess. The vocals quickly bring in a visceral blackened edge to truly harshen the blows landed by the frenetic chaos of the instrumentals. Hammering on, the titanic riffs and monstrous drums back up a vitriolic spew of insane vocals, delivering old school Black-Thrash carnage with no remorse, nor anything held back. Amidst the rampaging rhythmic battery we get some melodically charged yet still relentlessly aggressive solos that stand out gorgeously while unquestionably fitting the rest of the record. Things are certainly off to an impressive and fiery start.
Forging onwards with a stoic strength, the unfaltering thrashing madness does not weaken despite the considerably longer album length (at 53 minutes) for a record of this genre, which is a risky move. Thankfully Hexecutor pull it off with their sonic storm of bestial Thrash Metal destruction that has more than enough variety, rhythm and melody to keep you on your toes from start to end while they rain a diverse and unrelenting bombardment of Extreme Metal artillery. Screeching with an untamed energy of hellish proportions, there is nothing but total passion to be found in this concrete slab of debauchery. Thankfully the musicianship is tight enough to back up the slew of macabre ideas in a way that feels primal yet shows proficiency.
The groove and ferocious bite that comes with it certainly will hook any Extreme Metal lover who values the old ways of the genre, such as early Bathory, Vulcano, Sarcofago and in more recent years Deathhammer, Urn and Condor. Hexecutor take this stylistic approach into a rather unique territory by utilising a melancholic and atmospheric dynamic in their sound which is much more multi-faceted than it may seem initially. To me, this is what can often bring people back to an album for many repeat listens to truly discover all it has to offer, which in the case of Hexecutor is a hell of a lot. The only other band I can think of in recent years who have pulled off this approach so well is Germany’s Witching Hour. For those of you who have not read my review of Witching Hour, it was a glowing appraisal, which I can equally apply to this fantastic slice of French might.
Dynamics, atmosphere and total Black Thrash carnage, it’s here and when it rains, it pours. Hexecutor not only blister through nearly an hour of fantastic Extreme Metal but do so with such a versatile and emotive range of sounds that one cannot flaw their maniacal yet expansive, intellectual approach to a barbaric form of music while retaining total savagery and never taming the fire of Heavy Metal! -8/10
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