Release Date: December 01st 2025. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records / Burning Skull. Formats: Cassette/DD/Vinyl
Blessing Of The Damned - Tracklisting
1.10,000 Crows
2.Black Circle
3.Void Throne
4.Wyrd
5.The Act of Dying
6.Don't Talk to Strangers
7.Monolith
8.Cathedrals
Lineup
Hampus Henningsson - Guitar/Vocals
Toni Åkerman - Bass/Vocals
Dan Nordin - Drums
Review
Hexjakt return with their debut full length album Blessing Of The Damned and it has all the classic hallmarks for a spectacular record from the world famous Swedish Doom/Stoner Metal scene. The mood can be mean and nasty with Hexjakt forging a muscular and murky battlefield to play their music upon. Everything has an aggressive presence with Hexjakt taking influence from the mainstays of the Swedish Doom/Stoner Metal scene and further beyond with acts such as HIGH ON FIRE and CONAN making a mighty presence along the way.
There is a sudden influx of Psychedelic surroundings and Classic Heavy Metal melodies with a Thrash based outlook which all appear within the first few moments of the epic opening track 10,000 Crows. The music is mightily thick and bursting with an almighty confidence with the excellent vocals from Hampus Henningsson and Toni Åkerman joining forces that becomes a mighty formative defence to unleash a dominating musical presence. Hexjakt captures a sublime sludgy presence on the later stages of the song that projects a huge WALL OF NOISE that’s played at a mighty fine pace.
Second track Black Circle could have easily arrived from their acclaimed 2025 self-titled debut EP with it’s downbeat Thrash and Sludge based sound with the band navigating around a backdrop of thick and highly powerful WEEDIAN melodies. The atmosphere is quite stripped back with Hexjakt having an intense physical AURA within their music. With a sudden rush of NOLA based grooves appearing, Hexjakt plays with sonic fuelled Psychedelic and Spaced Out passages with an ice cold level of distortion appearing. The lyrics go slightly into fantastical realm but not too much with this record have quite a grounded creative vibe throughout. The music is always demanding your full attention and Hexjakt are always happy to provide the listener with an onslaught of epic grooves that even have a hint of Post-Stoner, Ambient and Post-Rock surroundings within them.
Third song Void Throne sees Hexjakt once again keep with the Prog Metal theme within their music for another epic song running past the eight minutes mark. The song has quite a calculated presence with Hexjakt forging areas of Doom Metal, Sludge Metal and Stoner Metal where the likes of Mastodon, CONAN and High On Fire reign supreme. Though, the band makes its own destructive world with bombastic vocals from Toni and Hampus combining once more. The sound is quite deceptive when a more riff-driven methodology is added to the mix with Hexjakt showing their technical prowess amongst a thrilling cinematic atmosphere that ultimately becomes one of the standout tracks on the whole album.
Fourth track Wyrd is pure DOOM METAL theatre with droned out vocals appearing setting the scene which may have a slightly slower delivery than the other tracks for the most part. However, Hexjakt delivers faster THRASH paced beats out of nowhere before returning to their slow-to-mid paced Doomed Out environment. Around the third minute mark, the song becomes more aware of it’s Psychedelic and Stoner Metal surroundings which allows Hexjakt once more to fully take flight with Ambient textures and dominant riff-centric landscapes taking you closer to “INTER-DIMENSIONAL SPIRIT ANIMAL” territory.
The second half of the record sees Hexjakt become more DOOM METAL obsessed with darker moments of lyrical content and exploring Post-Metal themes whilst keeping in line with their core Doom and Stoner Metal beliefs on tracks such as The Act Of Dying, Don’t Talk To Strangers, Monolith and the epic final track Cathedrals that runs for an almost mind-expanding fourteen minutes.
Hexjakt appears more confident within the second half of the track by exploring more daring themes and heavier soundscapes though the distorted and down-tuned melodies of tracks such as The Act Of Dying and Monolith are real head-banging epics. The band show their true creative and technical MIGHT within the final track of Cathedrals where they everything into the blender and conjure up a masterclass of modern day Doom/Stoner Metal that still offers a few surprises along the way especially if you’re a fan of the more Progressive side of underground music.
Blessing Of The Damned is a stunning and highly evolved slice of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal that will impress you with its complex and challenging sounds that will leave you on the edge of your seat throughout. Hexjakt already feel they’re at the top of their game and for a debut album that's something very hard to achieve. This is one of those rare debut albums that you simply cannot ignore.
Unmissable. End Of.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Hexjakt, Viral Propaganda PR and Metal Devastation PR for the promo.
