Culled down to the burning wastes where the beast speaks loudest Madrid, Spain-based death/thrash metal band EXORCISED conjure the suffocating fumes of the wailing possessed in realizing this short but admirably focused debut full-length album. Trenched in the trio’s handle upon ‘old school’ death metal tenets ‘Fire & Sulfur‘ is effectively riff built but more importantly style representative as they introduce their thrash braced vision for classic sounds. For the die-hard death thrashing maniac their work should read as authentic enough yet still approachable, flying the right flag for the traditional death metal thirsting ear.

Exorcised formed soon after thrash metal band Madsher split in 2025 with vocalist/guitarist Joe Kuznik and former bassist Lolo Sánchez joined by Stainless Madness drummer Héctor Vegas. Naturally a band of thrashers who’ve been at it for at least a decade-plus bring brevity and intensity to their classic death metal inspired craft where they’ve named Floridian classics (Deicide, Morbid Angel, etc.) and underground greats such as Devastation as part of their collective mill. Their intent appears to invoke a sense of insane, possessed energy meant to sound as if conjured from Hell while still reflecting a total ‘old school’ inspired sound. Beyond that general frontage I figure the typical death/thrash fan only has one question heading in: Does it have riffs?

No doubt Exorcised‘ve built each song here around stringing together riffcraft which is variously evocative of pre-’94 works from Malevolent Creation (esp. “Formulas for the Incantation”, “Snake’s Molt”), Cancer (U.K.) and at many points they invoke ‘The Unholy Spell‘-era Torture Squad. The closest Spanish equivalent is maybe something like Canker, a band well-attuned into death metal of the early 90’s but still sported mid-to-late 80’s thrasher roots. Not every riff hits here, many are dryly transitional or sluggish, yet the music is unflinchingly driven by rhythm guitar interest. ‘Fire & Sulfur‘ is duly intense in its delivery, even bestially struck at times, but each song ultimately finds some manner of mid-paced pocket to stagger and snarl through.

The way Exorcised clamber into “Tortured on the Rack” immediately speaks the right language where both German and Brazilian extreme thrash appear to factor into the sharp cut of the opening riff and the more blitzed rupture which precedes the first verse. Taken as a sample under lens these two riffs string together in service to the broader cadence which follows, sorting out the bulk of the song’s statement in the first minute. Beyond a few punctuative addendum the effect is almost swinging in the way that ‘Seven Churches‘ inspired musing often is but in this case a few blasted sections pull the song away from a too-obvious speed metal skeleton. It isn’t the song I’d have set as the opener of the lot but it does a fine enough job conveying what ‘Fire & Sulfur‘ will be all about.

The militance felt on the opener is then expanded and repurposed on standout “Hatred Knife” where the elastic snap of their riff-runs and more prominent tanking through the bass guitar lend the feeling of a diabolic machine whirring alight. Kuznik‘s vocals are rawly rasped yet coherent a la Darren Travis and suit this style well without conveying any outright emotion beyond red-eyed malevolence. This leaves plenty enough room in a mix which reads as somewhat authentic to the earlier 90’s Morrisound era where the rhythm section is given parity of kinetic reach in surround of the rifling riffs at the center of interest. The exception to this notion is proper treatment of the lower end where drums are immediately present, but squarely floor level, and bass guitars are defined on the crest of the main rhythm guitar tone as they tank along, it doesn’t have a full-on scooped to Hell impact.

Exorcised do well to carry that initial momentum through the berth of ‘Fire & Sulfur‘ with variations on familiar patternation, adding little to their vocabulary beyond what is introduced in the first three or so songs. You’ll find nods to Deicide and Malevolent Creation become more prominent mid album where their use of dual vocals and barreling movement somewhat familiar in its shot-gunned approach. I emphasize this because at that point we’ve struck a pure ‘old school’ death metal experience rather than a death/thrash metal hybrid, the peak being the title track “Fire & Sulfur” and how it builds upon nodes introduced by “Robbery of Violence” and “Hatred Knife” prior. There is some admirable consistency to how this tracks as a full listen and the trio’s ability to thread all of this together in a way that breathes, finds its grooves but doesn’t resort to boring 90’s groove metal tropes.

Brevity necessarily assists here in securing impact as the sub-half hour cut through ‘Fire & Sulfur‘ ensures Exorcised‘ve only just exhausted a specific range of expression for their debut statement but haven’t fully worn it raw. The extreme focus of underground death/thrash metal is well represented here, not enough of a suffocating tunnel vision’d experience to make the average riff-enjoyer see stars but just enough to ingratiate the ear to their gig. A great sound and some solid riffs in reference aren’t enough to pulverized my skull into memory but that doesn’t reduce the shine of a death metal band upholding the unholy tradition. If you’re a fan of classic death/thrash metal variants and understand how the standards of late 80’s thrash best feed the ‘old school’ death metal signature you’ll appreciate what these folks are all about. A moderately high recommendation.

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