Australian blackened thrash metal act, Executus, have released their debut album masterpiece, The Black Throne of Chaos Abandoned on December 4th, 2023 – just in time to welcome the winter solstice. The band features Adrian Donarski (lead guitar), Grant Osborne (VOX/rhythm guitar), Kym Baddams (bass), and Francis Passadilla (drums) – with honorary mentions of guest keyboardist, Emily Baddams. The opening track – featuring E. Baddams on the keyboard – brought me back to the tonal accompaniments of Ancient (“Cainian Chronicles” era), Dimmu Borgir (“Enthroned Darkness Triumphant era), and Bal-Sagoth material of the late 1990s. Track 2 is a blistering – albeit progressive – blackened thrash metal track. Osborne’s aggressive vocal style was surprisingly reminiscent of Mikhail Chirva’s vocal style of the Russian-Canadian black metal band, Tvangeste – not to mention Alex Laiho of Children of Bodom. The track continues in this progressive direction coupled with fast Motorhead-style riffage, climaxing with an amazing old-school solo. The album continues in this direction with amazing tracks like “Executus Rising” and “Behold! A Bloodstained Sky.” Track 6 – “A State of Unchanging Death” – is a remarkable contemporary blues/jazz piece, which reminded me quite a bit of early 2000’s Opeth. All in all, Executus has produced something musically outstanding, and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future.
Executus: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: self-released
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Scott Brison
