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XORSIST
Aberrations

Hammerheart (2026)
Rating: 8.5/10

I was extremely excited for this, the third full-length from Xorcist, a band that has managed to somehow transform the well worn Swedish HM-2 formula into something refreshing. Previous to this new release the posse had put out a brace of seriously good albums, both of which clambered towards a Carnage / Dismember-style of deathliness but with thrashier elements. Now comes Aberrations, a ten-track platter and the first to feature new lead guitarist Pavel Lindegren who also co-produces the album. He joins Gustav Ryderfelt (vocals and rhythm guitar), Birk Castenmalm (vocals and bass) and Alphonse Bouquelon (drums) for 39 minutes of ravenous and uncompromising Stockholm death metal that takes no prisoners.

‘Rest Impending’ strikes first, the clan mixing a deadly potion with a punch of classic Entombed, Unleashed, and Grave; the drums furiously pounding as the vocals are gasped and rasped with alarming maniacal ferocity. Xorsist exist within a fervour, frantically riffing with rabid horror and hostility to a point of almost uncontrollable energy and convulsing. The only break from the thrashing emerges in the form of some morose lead work which spirals with despondent glee.

Xorsist mixes tempos in abundance, dropping in some crushing mid-paced grooves, as per the downright gloomy trudges on ‘Souls To Mourn’. But even with more accessible melody there’s still that rawness and seething which foams with every ghastly vocal expression. Those thirsty for such scathing retorts need look no further than the blitzkrieg of ‘Faceless’, but this time round there’s more of an emphasis on colossal, slower churning to the point of the band leaning towards a doomier aspect.

‘His Shrouded Gaze’ successfully fuses slow and fast passages, lumbering and then scurrying to create an aura of gargantuan gloom and dismal, decaying fumes. ‘An Elegy Unfolds’ begins with doomy gross as if old floorboards are creaking within the confines of a dying house, but then, unexpectedly, there’s the jump scare of the sudden barrage of riffs, bass and drums, gushing like grey hammering waterfalls which tear the flesh in rapid torrents.

‘Disbelief’ is a monstrous groove machine, the flabby buzzsaw riffs undulating and rolling beneath the surface of their own thick foam as the drums hit like hammers. Show closer ‘Memorial Cries’ brings dark subtlety amidst its great waves of grief and arrogance, the vocals acting as supreme barks from some wretchedly formed entity squirming in its pit of party devoured limbs.

Arguably their most mature offering, Xorsist brings great dollops of morbidity to their sound, resulting in those chainsaw riffs being clogged by congealed blood; the clotting agent forcing those riffs to splutter from frenzied retaliation to macabre grinding. I’ve reviewed a lot of Swedish death metal since the original spawning of the scene decades ago and somehow Xorsist brings new energy and ideas to such familiar formulas. Like being whipped into a frenzy and then flattened by a steamroller, the sound of Aberrations is a glorious example of old and new combining, and in turn forming a formidable fury of ancient forces.

Neil Arnold

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