Forged from a mind possessed by the reverberations of ancient infernal acts and spread through bestial praxis Warsaw, Poland-based black/thrash metal quartet HEXENALTAR arrive upon primal actualization within this succinct, damaging debut full-length album. Feral yet swinging in its hybrid of speed metal voicing and bestially thumped-out aggression ‘Descending Curse‘ is a short hit of relatively familiar craft which speaks more to style and potential than it does new gear. It is a strong, not-so demanding first showing from a band who’ve done well to deliver upon the promise of their earlier formative releases.

Hexenaltar was formed as a solo project from Marc Butcher (Abominated, ex-Infiltrator) circa 2021 with the intent of creating evil speed metal/extreme thrash of the mid-to-late 80’s variety, specifically referencing the German witching metal sphere but with some inspiration taken from infernal demons like Merciless (Sweden), Sarcófago, and Magnus (Poland) who’d pushed the limits of speed and blasphemic aggression in their heyday. Their first EP (‘Tormented Possession‘, 2022) managed a raw approximation of something closer to the brutality of Hellhammer in statement where bestial (alternately “witching”) aggression met up with simplified and exaggerated speed metal structures. It’d been a serious enough blueprint but it wasn’t until they’d ranked up to a quartet and released a second EP (‘Bestial Damnation‘, 2022) that it became clear that what Butcher envisioned held the “swing” of speed metal and the hammer of auld bestial black/death.

On paper this is well-defined territory yet the abundance of black/thrash popularity today makes it difficult to set reasonable expectations going forth. Fans of 80’s hardcore punk-informed patternation applied to speed metal gait are likely best-served by ‘Descending Curse‘ as I’d push your mind less along the lines of early Bestial Warlust and toward the looser slung, somewhat generic heavy metal informed station of today’s black/speed metal to start. The riffcraft which rallies through opener “Maledictus Abyss” reinforces this thought right away, less a “mean” rush and more a plainly intensifying progression in ranting evolve. This doesn’t fully indicate the grinding slap of their gig throughout the album’s short ~27 minute run but does suggest that that this is a modern understanding, not a recreation, of these forms which approximates the ruthless, messy dark aggression of the 80’s underground.

Beyond the sinister heavy psych buzz-organ grind of “Intro” (via Dagger Maniac‘s Filip Weyher) ‘Descending Curse‘ features nine ~2-3 minute songs which’re all similarly structured into two general phases. Most every song on Side A begins with a simple whirring of a foundational punkish speed metal riff into gear which is then served intensive variation (or repetition) ’til the second half of the song necessitates an uptick in speed, a solo and an inverse groove-out. You can basically skip to the second half of the first several songs and find yourself at a similar point of action, this is occasionally reversed or interrupted on some of the pieces on Side B. If you find this album breezing past and not leaving a mark in mind beyond a few songs it is likely the repetitious structuring of both their riffcraft and song alike. This is less a dig at their craft and moreso a rotten finger pointed at the ‘old school’ simplicity which informs their action.

It became difficult to pick favorite songs within the experience beyond the fifth or so listen as roughly half of ’em are similar enough in make and expression that they’re nearly interchangeable. The more militant rush n’ rattle of “Sacred Doom Through Inquisition” and the heavy metal uptick in the final third of “Stakes are Burning” stood out as quick favorites but “Xecutioner’s Spell” probably does the best job of leaning into the feral proto-war metal side of their sound while still slinging speed/thrash metal movement.

‘Descending Curse‘ rolled in one ear and out the other without demanding too much brainpower or attention though there are a few points of righteous intensity that’d made it worth returning to. As a first LP and self-defining statement it makes great sense as delivery upon the style their previous EP releases while proving their general backward-looking modus has some dynamic potential in its action. A moderately high recommendation.

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