6th November 2025

Review: “Rituals of Desecrated Benediction” by Execrion

Fueled by themes of Occultism, Death, Nihilism and Philosophy “Rituals of Desecrated Benediction” was recorded in August 2025 by Spanish Blackened Death Metal collective Execrion. A record which follows no less than four demos and a compilation, all of which have been recorded, mixed and mastered in Khazad-Dûm Studios, its the work of a partnership between veteran musicians Darth Dagoth (Briargh, Deprive, Funebre Devastation) and J. Elimination (Infernaculum, Selaphiel, Forced Elimination). It seems the pair love to soar on the plague wind thermals, ready to swoop down like vultures and destroy the carcass of any wounded animal…

Sounding like it was recorded live on the floor of a dark, damp, basement torture chamber hell of a rehearsal space “Scourge Upon the Sanctified Revelation” rears its ugly head like a beast unleashed from the gates of hell itself. A twisted tale of death growled vocals, blackened riffs and pulverizing percussion, its a nasty opening cut that feels like afresh wound with flavours of Twitch Of The Death Nerve. The strange thing is that it’s perhaps not as raw as it could be, as if part of the nature of the sound is an aesthetic of choice rather than one of limitation of recording equipment. Not that that is of course an issue because it adds to the charm as well as reminding nostalgically of the tape trading days of the 1980’s. Continuing the onslaught “Through Orifices of Divine Rot” rattles the cage with fierce vocals and bursts percussion, the absence of a click track adding a delicious volatility and energy to the soundscape. A little whammy bar action between blood and thunder passages is followed by a fleeting solo that feels like a lightening bolt from a wrathful deity.

Menacing, sinister and urgently violent “Altars Drowned in Caustic Light” burns like wire with dark chord progressions and blackened drumming, a scorching solo concluding the affair in fine fashion. Synths add to the weight of atmosphere as “Crypt of Eclipsed Divinity” crushes, a gothic influence pushing the bands boundaries in the bridge before Dagoth brings another ripper of a solo to the table. The combinations are interestingly stitched together, the pair never abandoning their Blackened Death Metal roots for more than a few seconds but still for long enough to stretch the imagination. There are no rules, so who says a band can’t make something that sounds like Mayhem playing a Type O Negative cover? Fierce to the point of almost becoming feral “Blasphemic Pyre Ascension” feels like being bludgeoned with a blunt object, the razor sharp riffs doing nothing to elevate the pain. There is even time for an off kilter drum solo before the duo bite back with more venomous riffs, pouring boiling oil over there enemies from the castle ramparts in the process. An unstoppable force of nature in the old school sense of those words, it seems like for Execrion death is merely the beginning [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Scourge Upon the Sanctified Revelation
2. Through Orifices of Divine Rot
3. Altars Drowned in Caustic Light
4. Crypt of Eclipsed Divinity
5. Blasphemic Pyre Ascension

“Rituals of Desecrated Benediction” by Execrion is out 27th September 2025 and is available over at bandcamp