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! ! ! ! !
Artist......: Haxprocess
Album.......: Beyond What Eyes Can See
Year........: 2025
Genre.......: Death Metal
Type........: Album
Label.......: Transcending Obscurity Records
Language....: English
Source......: WEB
Encoder.....: libFLAC
Quality.....: 2746kbps avg. / 88.2kHz / 2 channels
Tracks......: 4
Playtime....: 00:44:48
Size........: 923.65MB
R.Date......: 2025-07-27
S.Date......: 2025-07-25
Url.........: http://play.qobuz.com/album/npw4jnk2v9otb
01. Where Even Stars Die 11:27
02. The Confines of the Flesh 9:28
03. Thy Inner Demon Seed 10:42
04. Sepuchral Void 13:11
Pillars of geologic carnage left behind by
unimaginable beings ring and radiate with shades of
creeping darkness, transmitting a state of massive
dementia felt under the obscuring hand of unknowable
possessors whoÆd cast their guidance directly toward
Jacksonville, Florida-based progressive death metal
quartet HAXPROCESS whoÆd now deign to explore the
pandemonium of the mind in this warped, vexing second
chapter. Throngs of riff woven by minds set to consume
in hungered access of the unknown feature as the
central purpose of æBeyond What Eyes Can Seeæ, an
album which takes one step closer to the unreal in
creation of threads which seek continuous and elevated
consciousness via rhythmic excess. Or, in more
practical terms we find a sense of exploration and
fascination of another order within these four
longform progressive death metal pieces as these
fairly young troops source an imaginative voice which
thoroughly avoids the attention-deficit lax of modern
death metal slop. Practiced but not perfectionist and
presented without any shortcuts in sight these folks
may not bring abject brutality within their offerings
though their work smacks of idealism and determined
craft in a realm otherwise dominated by the opportune
and unthinking.
After feeling no kinship with the progressive metal
theyÆd been playing as teenagers Haxprocess formed as
a death metal band circa 2020 by way of
guitarist/vocalist Lothar Mallea and drummer Adam
Robinson with I believe the former acting as the main
songwriter of most of their material to date. The
earlier lineup of the band was a quartet but the
details arenÆt readily accessible as their digital
only æMercilessæ EP from 2021 is no longer online,
otherwise an early quartet line-up featuring guitarist
Shane Williamson (Dead Centre) and now former bassist
Ben Gabriel can be viewed in the video version of æAt
One with Timeæ rehearsal demo from late 2021. The
style we find on those early recordings is of course a
conglomeration of classic (but not necessarily
squarely early 90Æs) progressive death metal which
incorporates interest in progressive rock and thrash
metal via longform compositions. Those ideas, some
older than the band but mostly new, translated
directly into their debut full-length album (æThe
Caverns of Duatæ, 2023) a record which IÆd championed
at the time setting it at #15 on my Top 75 Albums of
the Year list. Before that year was up theyÆd already
been working on songs for this new album, posting an
impressive demo of ôSepulchral Voidö as theyÆd sought
representation, eventually landing with the good folks
over at Transcending Obscurity.
In terms of what Haxprocess offer to the greater death
metal headspace the best comparison IÆd offer to folks
with serious interest in the sub-genre is late 2000Æs
The Chasm per the contemplative adventure put forth as
well the first two Opeth albums in terms of meandering
yet determined longform song structures which take a
variety of turns before their realization. These songs
arenÆt always so neatly cinched in form, nor are they
as repetitious, but they do not constitute linearly
cut riff salad or post-metal gesturing. While one
could point to ôcosmicö death metal of the 2010Æs
(Blood Incantation, etc.) as most key relevance to the
effect of the quartetÆs sound IÆd say that is mostly
for the sake of passing categorization and reads as
superficial in direct comparison. Most of these
observations hold up for album number two as æBeyond
What Eyes Can Seeæ both compliments and extends the
vision of æThe Caverns of Duatæ sonically and
stylistically, presenting similar live-in-studio
production values and render. With that said, this is
a different experience which reflects both evolving
capabilities and more current authorship/interests
that effectively tips things deeper into the
pure-yet-weirding death metal spectrum.
ôThe Confines of the Fleshö might be the most obviate
example of this change, not only for its æFormulas
Fatal to the Fleshæ-toned movements but the range of
guitar-centered expression deployed, which rolls from
acrobatic scrawl toward more technical grooves and
back down to restfully stoked movements. A song like
this does generally resemble the salad of an album
like æHidden History of the Human Raceæ in some
respect per the Morbid Angel-esque reference but in
this case these ideas are built to string together
with more patient sense rather than rallied through
sans any transitional thought. As was the case with
the previous album most Haxprocess songs are either
intertwined or represent a contiguous thought, so, all
that surrounds this piece relates to it before
transitioning to a different thought. The best example
of this is maybe ôThey Inner Demon Seedö, taking on
some of that Florida death metal fuming within its
first half, something a bit more æCovenantæ feeling in
its brood, before the middle of the song touches upon
the earlier technical death/thrash side of their gig.
This was a key piece for my own taste per the number
of turns taken + high riff count but also for their
expansion beyond known sounds, smaller details which
keep the lava flowing such as the harrowing snarled
vocals at the apex of the piece.
It is easy to get drawn into the vortex here and focus
on the minutiae of Haxprocessæ work as aggressive
guitar music, the sheer immersive quality of their
riffcraft in action is the biggest draw for each of
their LPs to date, yet IÆd found myself appreciating
the patient, kinda ôepicö heavy metal toned ventures
within most. This was especially true of closer
ôSepulchral Voidö which has changed a fair deal beyond
its demo phase, extending its length by about a minute
and re-ordering a few parts though the opener is the
one that bears the strongest gravity hit. Even if I
couldnÆt recall half of the riffs theyÆd packed into
ôWhere Even Stars Dieö itÆd been consistently tough to
step away from once catalyzed into action, a thread
IÆd wanted to follow through on each time IÆd picked
the album up; Some of the gestures included in these
four songs are on the simpler side and a few arenÆt
exactingly related but the whole affair appears
organically pulled together in a rehearsal space
rather than the usual spliced-together tropes which
plagues a lot of popular USDM at the moment. IÆm not
so much suggesting that æBeyond What Eyes Can Seeæ
appeals squarely for the sake of not following
whatever bland trend everyone is soaking up at the
moment but it certainly helps that these folks take
their process seriously as it continues to evolve. Any
band this willing to put the work into these feats of
mind-wringing endurance rather than dry hardcorish
plod is worth celebrating from my point of view and
overall far more likely to win over longtime fans of
death metal.
Haxprocess have endless dimensions to consider, a
million places they could go, bigger songs to write
and more extreme metal to explore as such young folks
and in this sense an album like æBeyond What Eyes Can
Seeæ is a worthy exploration, an album which speaks to
discovery, fandom first but also a determined work
ethic paying off. While IÆm not sure this is their
defining statement just yet it proves that the first
album wasnÆt a fluke of passing interest and that
their original thread is capable foil for further
expansion. While I appreciate that this record
explores more varietal pacing and goes off on numerous
brilliant tangents with a strong sense of purpose
beyond the last IÆm curious to see how their take on
progressive death metal mutates in the future, moreso
than most, as this immediate ôchapter twoö achieves a
pretty righteous ideal without bending toward the
lowest common denominator. I think the next challenge
for the band is impact, specifically finding a
breakthrough take or esoteric act which sticks in mind
beyond this present high.