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XORCIST
Deadly Possession

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 8/10

As soon as the first buzzsaw riffs cascades you just know this is Swedish death metal. This is the latest clan of upstarts to worship that old school sound but somehow remaining fresh, and this young band from Stockholm certainly deserve your attention.

Having formed just two years ago, Xorcist takes me back to those murky days of hearing demos from the likes of Entombed and Carnage for the first time.

A haunting piano intro kicks things off, before we are gnashes at the knees by the chainsaw bombardment of ‘Enslaved’. Hats off then to axe men Ragnar Larsson and Gustav Ryderfelt (also the vocalist) for churning out such vim and zip, and that kicking percussion from Marlon Clinton must also be noted.

Yes, the theme is familiar throughout, but it never feels tired or generic. Instead, we get the intense pulverisations of the snappy ‘Fleshy Art’ with its grinding pace, the entail-removing thrash / death of ‘Alive’, and the sweet odour of ‘Cranial Nails’ where the bass of Birk Castenmalm just festers.

Naturally you’ll sense strong wafts of Grave, Unleashed etc, but Xorcist also adopts the same rawness which made those bands stand out in the first place. Just check out the ferocity of ‘Underworld’, which is like old Sodom emerged with 90s Swedish belligerence.

I’ve tucked into this debut platter several times and have yet to tire of it, so impressed am I by its vigour and youthful aggression. Support the underground and give Xorcist the recognition they deserve.

Neil Arnold

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