Stockholm’s Xorsist return with their third full-length ‘Aberrations’ via Hammerheart Records, serving up a razor-sharp evolution of Swedish Death Metal for fans of Dismember, Entombed, Unleashed, and Bloodbath.
When these lads first burst onto the scene with ‘Deadly Possession’ back in 2022, they were swinging that classic Sunlight Studios HM-2 buzzsaw with absolute teenage fury. Followed by 2023’s ‘At the Somber Steps of Serenity’, they proved they weren’t just another nostalgic flash in the pan. Now, with lead guitarist Pavel Lindegren fully integrated alongside founder Gustav Ryderfelt, bassist Birk Castenmalm, and battering-ram drummer Alphonse Bouquelon, their third outing ‘Aberrations’ marks a genuine turning point.
Rather than relying purely on the primitive d-beat stomp and raw chainsaw abrasion of their early days, ‘Aberrations’ sees Xorsist honing their attack with sharper musicality and calculated dynamic shifts. The HM-2 guitar crunch is still thick enough to scrape skin off bone, but it’s anchored by an expanded sense of melody and structural discipline. On a track like ‘An Elegy Unfolds’, the band flexes some serious melodic Death Metal flair—weaving dramatic, swaggering leads over a heavy, driving rhythm section before pivoting into a filthy mid-tempo groove that’s built for breaking necks. Meanwhile, ‘Souls to Mourn’ highlights their rhythmic progression, balancing crushing double-bass runs with atmospheric, sprawling riff sequences that let the bass guitar breathe ominously in the mix.
If there’s any bone to pick here, it’s that the heightened production polish and steady pacing polish away a touch of the feral, chaotic grime that made their earliest recordings feel so unhinged. Yet what they sacrifice in loose filth, they more than make up for in razor-sharp execution, fluid transitions, and downright infectious riff-craft. Xorsist haven’t abandoned their roots by any stretch; they’ve simply learned how to wield the torch with deadlier precision, keeping the classic Swedish Death Metal flame burning bright into darker, more intricate territory.
