And here I was just the other day thinking that it would be some time before I came before another work of thrash metal in 2025 that was actually worth its own salt in some form or another. Fortunately for me however, the universe sought to prove me wrong. It’s not terribly often that I find myself pleased by such a thing, yet here I am ecstatic about it. After hearing the new work from Doomsday, I was confident that thrash wasn’t going to have much to offer me for at least a few weeks. It’s within the madness of Hexecutor’s newest work that I find myself proven wrong magnificently, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

While I could sit here for quite a whole and prattle on about what I think thrash metal could always use more of in order to inject some real life into its current state, there’s a lot that can be done, plain and simple. Normally, a little nudge in the wrong direction would typically be more than enough, but if we could get more acts of an ilk like what we have here with Hexecutor would be an absolute game changer. For all that this act has always been, low quality has not been one of them with their latest creation, “…Where Spirit Withers in its Flesh Constraint”, a monolith of speed and ferocity the likes of which is pure fire right from the very beginning and even in the work’s smallest moments. A spectacularly well-done blend of black and thrash metal with even a little bit of classic heavy metal for a particularly interesting left turn, this is a record that’s as unrelenting as it is satisfying to indulge. What Hexecutor pulls off here is a pretty simplsitic approach, but it would be wrong for any of us to make the claim that they kept thing one-dimensional or uninteresting in any given form. More than enough speed, riffs, and raw power to do all of these different styles justice as they’re dumped into a swirling cauldron whose potency is not to be underestimated, “…Where Spirit Withers in its Flesh Constraint” manages to live up to the excellence of its predecessors while still carving out a path for itself to make Hexecutor a name that thrash metal can use to reclaim some of its former glory.

Where others have not been able to step up to the challenge of delivering quality thrash, it’s bands like Hexecutor that have kept things moving forward. With an immense sense of power and an understanding of their craft that feels simply masterful from top to bottom, it’s the whole of “…Where Spirit Withers in its Flesh Constraint” that is maddening become lost within yet devilishly magnificent to become one with.

LISTEN to “…Where Spirit Withers in its Flesh Constraint” on Bandcamp here.

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