Hexrot – Formless Ruin of Oblivion Review

By Angry Metal Guy

By: Nameless_n00b_604

“What’s past and what’s to come is strew’d with husks / And formless ruin of oblivion;”1

Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych masterpiece The Garden of Earthly Delights is iconic, but like Dante’s Divine Comedy, it’s mostly for the Hell part. It’s not hard to see why: it’s a singularly surreal, oppressively grim piece. Scholars aren’t certain about Bosch’s religious beliefs, but the consensus is that he painted this panel to warn viewers to steer clear of temptation or endure everlasting torment in Hell. Avant-garde duo Hexrot has chosen to adorn their debut LP Formless Ruin of Oblivion with a portion of this panel, but they don’t buy Bosch’s dilemma. Promising in its promo a “stylistic mélange of death, black, and thrash metal with inventive electronic experimentation,” Hexrot has woven an abstractly grim tale of a world rejecting Heaven and Hell by plunging reality into empty Oblivion. Classical in theming, modern in sound, it sounds like quite the undertaking.

Formless Ruin does a lot, and all of it contributes to Hexrot’s impeccable sense of exploration and adventure. The sales pitch doesn’t lie about Hexrot’s sound, but it omits the unpredictable, jazzy feel. Along with Deathspell Omega-esque discordant black and Ulcerate-like dissonant death metal, the duo of drummer/vocalist/electronics producer Melmoth and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Arkain possesses a bombastic, improvised-feeling chemistry akin to Imperial Triumphant. From the skittering drums and bass of “Consecrating Luminous Conflagration” to the trash-canned climax of the fifteen-minute monster title track to “What Lies Veiled” riffing on and modifying Death’s opening “Symbolic” riff like a jazz standard, Formless Ruin of Oblivion rages and writhes in jazz fashion as often as it does in metal. Hexrot’s rhythmic talents are top-notch, serving obscenely busy drumming on “Heavenward” and immense, thrumming bass on “Clandestine Haunt” at odd and changing time signatures. Meanwhile, winding leads on “Consecrating Luminous Conflagration” and jarring electronics on the title track keep Formless Ruin’s melodic identity difficult to pin down. It’s a wild ride down to Oblivion.

Hexrot plays heavy stuff, conceptually and sonically, but Formless Ruin is surprisingly easy listening. Across its thirty-five-minute runtime, Hexrot seamlessly ties its songs together to form a continuous stream of consciousness, like a live suite. Every song besides the interludes is replete with movements and ideas without committing riff salad, while containing just enough repetition to cement hooks into memory. Vocals sound raw and upfront, consisting of a twin attack of bellowing roars and banshee screams that—while they probably would become monotonous alone—duel and complement each other, adding variety to Hexrot’s palette. And everything just sounds great: Formless Ruin sports rich production and dynamic mixing that allows every wild and disparate idea to breathe. Despite its avant-garde nature, Formless Ruin feels immediate through its grounded, live feel.2

Sometimes this album doesn’t even sound real at all. Because Hexrot established such an organic sound, every instance of electronic music creeping into the mix is surprising and even unnerving. “Consecrating Luminous Conflagration” ends and gets absorbed and rewound by the following “Ghostly Retrograde I,” synths join arpeggiated guitar on “Heavenward” to build its eerie elegance, and the title track collapses into crushed static. If there’s one aspect in which Formless Ruin isn’t totally enthralling, however, it’s sometimes when the synths and electronics stand alone. “Ghostly Retrograde II” drags by the end, as does the droning conclusion to “Formless Ruin of Oblivion”; these are the only times my mind wanders. But when they work, they elevate Hexrot, lending haunting qualities that at times remind me of the atmospherics of Cryptic Shift’s excellent Visitations from Enceladus. Hexrot’s push and pull between the organic and artificial is captivating: aptly put on the title track’s lyrics describing a curtain of stars “entering stage right,” Formless Ruin of Oblivion draws attention to its own artifice, revealing the artifice of its story’s reality, justifying Oblivion.

Formless Ruin of Oblivion demands your attention. I’ve begun so many casual spins of this album, and almost all of them turned into deep listens by track three. Hexrot has that touch to take the most seemingly unapproachable stuff and somehow make it addictive. Grandiose, volatile, unconventional, and surreal, Hexrot drummed up some Hell on this one, and I for one will be diving straight into whatever Oblivion they open up next.

Rating: Great!
DR: 10 | Review Format: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Website: hexrot-label.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/hexrot
Release Date: August 29th, 2025

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Imperialist – Prime Review

By Owlswald

Crafting a great or excellent record is a remarkable feat. But it’s another challenge entirely to consistently churn out banger after banger. This kind of consistency is the not-so-secret sauce that can launch bands into the upper echelons. While examples are numerous, California’s Imperialist is poised to demonstrate their potential for genuine longevity with third LP, Prime. Having already broken the Score Safety Counter with 2018’s Cipher, the sci-fi black metal quartet returned to impress our Elitist on staff again in 2021 with follow-up, Zenith. Now, four years later and with an EP in between, Imperialist sets its crosshairs on Prime to deliver their third quality record in a row.

Longtime followers of Imperialist’s cosmic flight path will notice that the foursome has stayed true to its blackened foundation. Sergio Soto and Bryant Quinones’ trem-picked guitars and stylish shredding—á la Dissection and Immortal—fuse with Rod Quinones’ explosive blast beats and Soto’s callous snarls to power their apocalyptic and space-faring narrative. However, on Prime, Imperialist updates their design, discarding the “loose screws” of previous albums for a meaner, more streamlined edge. The quartet’s songwriting has become more refined, featuring fluid transitions, engaging leads and solos, and strong, memorable riffs that anchor their high-energy sound. Everything about Prime is bigger, better, and more powerful than before, from the intense and technical performances to Eliran Kantor’s stunning cover art and Dan “The Man” Swanö’s excellent mix. The result is a full-force attack that hits with all its might, making Prime Imperialist’s most impressive effort to date.

Through years of dedication, Imperialist has weaponized its proven blueprint, transforming into a razor-sharp cohesive assault. Soto and Quinones’ guitars lead the charge, delivering a terrestrial invasion of light-speed tremolo runs and hooky, head-banging riffs packed full of cataclysmic energy perfectly suited for Prime’s apocalyptic premise. Imperialist prominently evolved its sound by adding melodic leads and solos that are both tasteful and technical, prioritizing emotion and phrase over showmanship to give Prime’s nine tracks greater punch and charisma. Their solos—with harmonic fluency (“A Ghost Abandoned,” “Beneath the Sands of Titan”), wah accents (“Starstorm,” “A Ghost Abandoned”), and expressive feel (“Final Hours,” “Nocturnal Eon”)—balance technicality with musical intuition while also contributing to Imperialist’s saga. Serving as the main force behind Prime’s storytelling, Soto’s vocal performance immerses the listener into the album’s vast narrative, as his tone, delivery and lyrical content perfectly marry Prime’s musical aggression with their thematic vision. His delivery has a great thrashy snarl that is flat-out mean, sounding like a mix between David DiSanto (Vektor) and Abbath (Immortal) while still retaining sharp and clear enunciation.

Prime hits hard from the start with “Starstorm” and sustains that high-energy approach for most of its forty-five-minute runtime. Bolstering Prime’s sound, Swanö’s mix forgoes the sterile feel of past albums for a lively and organic one, allowing each instrument room to breathe while pushing Soto’s vocals to the forefront. Interlude, “Heavens Sunder,” fits into the album’s arc perfectly and makes the return to Prime’s aggressive final half feel even heavier. The decision to include an interlude at the album’s midpoint was a smart move, especially given that a lack of song variation has historically been Imperialist’s Achilles’ heel. And yet, the back half of Prime still falters as its momentum wanes. “Union of the Swarm” and “Nocturnal Eon” are solid but feel less compelling, lacking the memorability of the album’s stronger tracks. Prime could have improved its staying power with greater differentiation between these songs and the album’s other material or by trimming one altogether. Fortunately, the triumphant “A Ghost Abandoned” breaks this pattern. With its sauntering rhythm, it provides a welcome change of pace before its satisfying, drifting outro delivers a sense of a completed journey, from initial onslaught to a final, fading resolution.

While it just misses greatness, Prime is without a doubt Imperialist’s most cohesive and powerful album to date. The group has successfully addressed nearly all the lingering issues from their past work while adding new depth to their sound. With Prime, these Californians are operating near the apex of their craft, having now released three consecutive quality black metal albums that cement them as one of the genre’s premier acts. No one knows where Imperialist go from here, but Prime is a journey that deserves your attention.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Websites: imperialistus.bandcamp.com/music | imperialistofficial.com | facebook.com/Imperialistofficial
Releases Worldwide: September 5th, 2025

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Hesitating Lights

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