Exorcised — Fire & Sulfur Review

The Prosecutor’s Voice

On guitars and vocals, Joe Kuznik handles a dual assault that serves as the primary weapon of the entire album. His guitar work is serrated, dry, and deliberately hostile. Rather than relying on a thick, bloated wall of fuzz, Kuznik deploys a mid-gain death-thrash bite. The distortion is razor-sharp rather than dense, giving his riffs a cutting, bone-saw articulation where every single note strikes with clinical precision.

His riff craft is exceptionally dynamic:

• The Spine — fast, palm-muted thrash patterns that drive the frantic momentum.
• The Blackened Edge — sudden, lethal bursts of tremolo picking that inject a sinister, occult atmosphere.
• The Harmonic Chaos — chord choices that lean heavily on diminished intervals and descending chromatic runs, ensuring the sonic landscape remains permanently sulfur-stained and structurally unstable.

Kuznik’s vocal approach is less of a traditional performance and more of a hybrid of a cavernous death-metal growl and a biting thrash bark, his delivery is incredibly forceful, perfectly intelligible, and dripping with venom. The distinct dryness of the vocal production strips away any comforting reverb, making the performance feel immediate, confrontational, and hostile —like a demonic sermon shouted directly across a burning pit.

Molten Foundation & Iron Engine

The bass performance by Lolo Sánchez is entirely non-ornamental — it functions as the literal molten underlayer binding the record’s systemic violence. Engineered to be thick and slightly overdriven, the bass possesses a gritty, cutting midrange that keeps it perfectly audible beneath the lacerating guitar tracks.

Héctor Vegas’s drumming acts as the primary mechanical engine driving the record’s hostility — direct, muscular, and completely unpretentious.

• The Kick — mixed to be punchy rather than modern and clinical; it relentlessly drives the frantic tempo without ever dominating the sonic space.
• The Backbone — high-velocity, traditional thrash beats form the uncompromising spine of the hymns.
• The Blasts — occasional, blistering death-metal blast beats erupt when maximum devastation is required, but they never overstay their welcome.
• The Punctuation — thunderous tom runs are deployed with ritualistic precision and act as ritual punctuation that bridges the transitions between hymns.

Heat-Warped Production

The production of Fire & Sulfur operates with a terrifying, physical immediacy. The album sounds as though it were tracked entirely within a sealed, heat-warped chamber, where every single instrument is aggressively forced into proximity with the listener. 

There is no cavernous reverb to hide behind; nothing is washed out, and nothing is allowed to feel distant. The mix is bone-dry, immediate, and profoundly hostile — yet it entirely avoids the trap of unreadable lo-fi clutter.

This is a skilfully sculpted display of violence, where every lacerating note and percussive strike lands with absolute, deliberate intent.

Ashes After Damnation

As the album closes with the devastating final hymn, Snake’s Molt/Drained Soul, the furnace doors slam shut, leaving the listener scorched and completely spent beneath the ash.

Overall, Fire & Sulfur stands as a headbanger of a burning fruit of art — a relentless, hyper-focused death-thrash hostility that demands complete submission from start to finish.