apanthropy

Hexorcist
Crucificial Imprecations
Invictus Productions/Godz ov War Productions
To Be Released: July 31st, 2026

Rating: 9/10

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1 – Crucificial Imprecations
2 – Defacing Deities
3 – Emissary of Evil
4 – Adverse Sacraments
5 – Deconsecration
6 – Hexorcist
7 – Unconsecrated Offerings
8 – Exordium of Profanation
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Editor’s note: We are using the tracklisting sent to us through our PR network.

The twisted hell of death metal is labyrinthian, adopting nearly every conceivable form and sound imaginable. In it’s darkest halls, lurk those who worship the old gods, the old tones, and the old ways. A vitriolic mix of Abominations of Desolation-era Morbid Angel, early Angelcorpse, and early Vital Remains, Hexorcist summon Crucificial Imprecations, a cosmos-destroying mass of sparse old-school death metal that is designed for maximum spite and bitterness. Founded in 2019, Hexorcist struck first with the short but immensely aggressive Bestiarum Vocabulum demo in 2020, followed by their debut full-length, Evil Reaping Death, in 2021. A second demo and splits with Putrid and Morbid Messiah kept the material flowing, leading into their impending sophomore effort, Crucificial Imprecations, due out July 31st, 2026, through Invictus Productions and Godz ov War Productions.

Florida is, arguably, home to some of the strongest underground bands in American history. Few scenes rival what the state has produced, and newer bands like Hexorcist are keeping the ancient flame burning; stoking it into a full-fledged bonfire of the damned. There is nothing saccharine about Crucificial Imprecations, there is no immense fixation on the concept of comfortable melodicism, there is no firestorm of riffs-per-minute technicality, the production dodges the modern sense of tonal sterility, and the performance, as a group, underlines a band that is clearly full of well-versed and talented musicians.

The songwriting compared to that of Evil Reaping Death shows a band that has progressed markedly in the realm of confidence and songwriting capabilities. At eight songs spread across 31 minutes, the beauty is in the delivery of destruction. Short, condensed, and entirely acrimonious, there is no point where the album can descend into filler, it’s not arranged and displayed to show any sign of compositional weakness. There are moments of rancorous and blasting speed and passages of a slightly more tempered, more terminal state, intertwined, freely exchanged, with each riff locked in with the next. The framing of the album is excellent, with solid introductory and closing tracks, with samples opening and closing various songs, invoking an atmosphere of occult radiance.

Crucificial Imprecations is precise. It feels deliberately engineered, yet loose and gritty. The guitar tone is putrid, with a hot midrange, and not a lot of pronounced frequencies, this genuinely leads to the strength of the riff being the ultimate highlight. There is no reliance on things like open-note palm-muted chugging or deep and chunky chord stabs, this is nothing but grinding power, demonic progressions, and chaotic leads and solos. The quintessential Floridian death metal tone at work. Drums are also stripped down to the bones; a neutral bass drum mixes with an aggressive snapping snare and a sea of cymbal splashes. Patterns consist of ripping double-bass, hammer blasts, and traditional blasts fused to a spine of neck-breaking transitional fills. Vocals are handled by the masterful Gene Palubicki, whose relentless guitar conflagrations can be heard throughout the work of Perdition Temple, Malefic Throne, and formerly in Angelcorpse. The vocals are perfectly fitting to the music itself; a fierce rebuking scowl, a guttural rip, something that feels genuinely feral. Mixed, it becomes the perfect construct of occult outburst. The dry production adds a sense of desiccation, a soul-withering blight across all the instruments. The record would simply not be the same had things been cleaned up and some of the grit washed away in terms of production.

The title track opens the record, and the intro sample feeds into an explosion of staccato downbeats, a chord heavy riff moving into crushing single-note tremolo, a burst of soloing that burns like white phosphorous, and the absolutely scathing vocal work steps in. There is no gradual phasing in, there is no handholding, there is no bullshit, it hits hard, it hits fast, and it demands mental attention. This first track sets the tone and pace for everything that follows, literally – everything. The mania, the excitement, the incitement…it never ceases, its such a welcome change of pace to the world of overly clean and overproduced music.

The blare of church organs rings in ‘Defacing Deities,’ the use of these intermission-style segments to open and close songs is a masterful bit of atmosphere, adding a bit of contrast to the constant abyssal darkness. Again, the intensity doesn’t wane, there is no change in direction, no drop in tempo, no gimmicks, much like the title track, it is an explosion of lightning-speed tremolo, incessantly slamming drums, and sheer vocal vomit. The soloing possesses such an electrical-like delivery; screaming harmonics, vicious bends, whammy bar death, the churning vortex of dozens and dozens of notes firing off like a belt-fed weapon. The riff crafting is simply perfect, it is firmly rooted to the musical core of the genre, but Hexorcist make it distinctive, something that they own and possess alone, trenching their own causeway through riff after riff of grinding assault.

‘Emissary of Evil’ and ‘Adverse Sacraments’ move in sonic stabbing motions, executed as vicious, no-compromising death metal. Moving into the center and final third of the album really highlights the unwavering tonal consistency. At this point, several songs in, one perhaps (sheepishly) expects some change to tempo; perhaps a slower song, a more methodical extended bridge in a track, something to break the merciless flow of blows on the listener.

No.

It just storms forward. Tanks rolling over corpses. Nothing but gristle and meat in the treads.

‘Deconsecration’ burns out in less than two and a half minutes; the barrage of sheer sonic information is staggering. Ripping solos tear meat from bone, the demonic wall of guitar force collapses on the listener, and the frenetic drumming whips the track into frenzy. Moving into the final third of the album reveals nothing but death. ‘Hexorcist’ and ‘Unconsecrated Offerings’ reek of old Morbid Angel. The soloing at this point gleams with technical finesse and consistent framing, each one arcing to life like a lethal current.

‘Exordium of Profanation’ is the final nail of the proverbial crucifixion. The crowning and scourging are complete, all that remains is one final display of overt cruelty, a hellstorm of grinding guitars that move in blazing fast progressions, snare drum genocide, and one last poisonous dose of vocal maiming.

From the opening note to the closing note, there is no life in between, only death. 31 unbroken minutes of complete onslaught, scorching everything that encounters it. If you’re looking for flavor, for variation, for those brief major scale melodic licks, for something easy to break down and swallow; this isn’t the record. This is grinding ancient death, a triumph of human malevolence, a record worthy of taking your time and investing in the experience. The evolution of Hexorcist, at two albums in, is something very much worth keeping an eye on. These guys know their shit and they write together well, to create something that is overwhelming powerful, yet actually fun to listen to, that doesn’t fall into every creative gimmick in the genre, isn’t an easy feat in 2026. There are a lot of bands coming and going every day, there’s a lot of records being released, and a lot of noise being made; the “production line” style of death metal is rife in the current scene. Crucificial Imprecations avoids the quagmire of tricks and stunts, it relies on the power of its composition, the intensity that comes from it, and it delivers. It delivers an experience of violence, a grim lash across the face of God, and it cuts through the noise, it cuts through the oversaturation, this is a record that will have an impact well after its release date.

Fans of old-school death metal, this is a big one in 2026. Enjoy, we don’t get albums like this very often.

Label: Invictus Productions
Label: Godz ov War Productions
Band: Hexorcist

AJK