...Where Spirit Withers in Its Flesh Constraint

Hexecutor is a French black/thrash band and ...Where Spirit Withers in Its Flesh Constraint is their second album for Dying Victims Productions and third overall. These guys lean into "black" harder than other bands in this genre, with dry rasping vocals and plenty of tremolo picking. There is a clear line from Hexecutor's sound back to Slayer in terms of the hellish atmosphere created by the high-speed evil playing and I like the fact that some of the lyrics are in French. It's a unique touch that makes songs like "Les lavandières de la nuit" and "Conomor le maudit" stand out. Slayer may be the baseline but there are second-wave black metal, thrash and speed metal influences that can be heard in Hexecutor's songwriting and, hell, they even include some straightforward riffing and almost neo-classical soloing on "Marion Tromel," making this sort of a black/power metal hybrid and it actually works. Fans of black/thrash should have no problem getting into Hexecutor's music, and those looking for something more than the standard stuff (not that there's anything wrong with the standard stuff) should definitely check out ...Where Spirit..., as it is just different enough.