Florida: birthplace of the first personal computer, endless just-barely-believable news stories, the modern sports drink, and death metal. Since the birth of Florida’s death metal scene in the late 80s and early 90s, the state has produced countless acts of varying quality and recognition. Among them is Hexorcist, forged in Miami’s oppressive heat in 2019. The four-piece released a demo in 2020, followed by debut LP Evil Reaping Death in 2021. Hexorcist subsequently journeyed to the land of splits for a few years, but they’ve returned with their sophomore effort, Crucificial Imprecations. Born in the land of musical giants, can Hexorcist even cast a shadow?
Crucificial Imprecations hails from a time when death and thrash were still separating themselves. After a symphonic opening reminiscent of old horror films, Hexorcist nails the gas pedal to the floor. “Crucifical Imprecations” burns and grinds the asphalt as it takes off on the highway to Hell. Like a demon, Mors Ululatus barks and growls his way through track after track of pure, unadulterated hatred for Jesus. In fact, from album art to instrumentals to lyrics, Crucificial Imprecations seems intent on reviving the glorious era of Satanic Panic. If the slimy wet bass that opens “Emissary of Evil” doesn’t send churchgoing mothers clutching for pearls, the hammering snares—driving anxiety up by the 8th note—will. Samples from 1968 cult classic The Devil Rides Out grace the final two tracks (“Unconsecrated Offerings,” “Exordium of Profanation”), and Mors Ululatus finds prime moments to scream in terror like he’s falling into the Lake of Fire itself (“Defacing Deities,” “Emissary of Evil,” “Exordium of Profanation”).
It shouldn’t be a surprise given their stomping grounds, but Hexorcist walks closely in the footsteps of Angelcorpse or Monstrosity and anchors themselves firmly in the Florida death metal sound. Riffs are plentiful, as guitarist Maleferious releases one after another, stuffing each song with several worth getting stuck in your craw. His riffs are technical and acrobatic, and his psychotic solo work frequently suffers Deathly convulsions. Bassist Lvctvs sounds thick enough to suffocate even the holiest among us in demonic ichor. When they work in tandem, matching note for note, they create singularly evil and terrifying passages (“Hexorcist”). This is only amplified by Pest’s violent and relentless kit work (“Emissary of Evil, Adverse Sacraments”). Together, Hexorcist ensures there’s no hope for escape from this satanic, Floridian joy ride.
Hexorcist maintains laser focus from start to finish on their sophomore release, but it’s not always to their benefit. Early in my time with Crucificial Imprecations, I thought the back half sagged, but that’s not exactly true. I realized that Hexorcist’s intensity and consistency, in a critical setting, ends up fairly monotonous. The problem here is that, regardless of how the tracks are ordered, Crucifical Imprecations starts to become a slog after any four of its eight tracks. Don’t misunderstand—this is some killer death/thrash, but across eight tracks of similar pacing, similar drumlines, similar basslines, similar solo structures, similar vocal delivery, it all blends together. Even though Crucificial Imprecations clocks in at a very short 30 minutes, the lack of identity from track to track makes it a much tougher listen than that length would suggest.
Hexorcist doesn’t exactly break any new ground here, but they do get my blood pumping pretty well. They were a no-brainer to throw on while working or driving or running errands. It wasn’t until I sat down to take some notes that I struggled with Crucificial Imprecations. Each track on Crucifical Imprecations is pretty tasty on its own, but the album is a bit of a one-trick pony. Where the forebears of the style experimented with mid-paced tracks and even slowed things down to a doomy crawl, Hexorcist lets off the gas exactly never, and there’s precious little variety to keep me engaged from start to finish. My playlists will benefit greatly from Crucificial Imprecations’ choice cuts, but I don’t see myself returning to the album as a whole.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Invictus Productions
Websites: Album Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: July 31st, 2026
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