Interview with black death metal band from France - HEXEKRATION RITES.
Answered H.R. Arkyon (Songwriter, live guitarist & vocalist), thank you!
Recenze/review - HEXEKRATION RITES - Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance (2025):
Ave HEXEKRATION RITES! On April 25th, 2025 you released your first full-length album "Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance" on Godz ov War Productions. As the title suggests, it is a blast of honest black metal, death metal. When you left the studio, what were your feelings? Please introduce the fans a little bit to the new album.
H.R. Arkyon (Songwriter, live guitarist & vocalist): Hi Jakub ! When we left the studio we were happy to finally be done with the recording. Since the 2 songs released on the “Gathering the disciples” EP were supposed to be part of the album we recorded something like 1 hour of music. However we left the studio with a strange feeling for several reasons. First, I was still not satisfied with my vocals because my voice was not at its best and unstable during the recording process. Second, the mix was acceptable at the time but it did not fully meet my expectations. In the meantime, we were also looking for a label that could support our ambitions. All these things lead to a long wait but we took advantage of it to make crucial decisions : The vocals were fully rerecorded and the mix was reworked from scratch. This explains why the album was released in 2025 while the initial recording session took place in… 2022! However it was worth it since, as of today, we are fully pleased with the final result and with this new collaboration with GODZ OV WAR.
You are a band made up of experienced musicians who know exactly what they want to play and how they want to play it. How did HEXEKRATION RITES come into being? I'm guessing a good pub and a lot of beer. Who first came up with the idea to play death/black metal? Please take us through the history of the band.
H.R. Arkyon: It all started with my idea of what a black metal album should be, filled with solid riffs and a martial and triumphant aggressiveness. Right now, too many bands are missing these essential points. Sometimes there are too many dissonances / melodic parts and everything sounds flat, sometimes the people who create the music are totally harmless on stage (and/or in real life), sometimes the album mix is formatted to please everyone’s ears … and sometimes it’s all of this. Black metal lost itself into a degenerative form of harmless musical genre : Even worst, our scene is claimed by some people that don’t even understand the nature or the essence of Black Metal. The scene is filled with social media dramas, cancellations and the will to include everyone. This is ridiculous. To me, black metal should be a source of inspiration : it should inspire me in my ability to push myself out of my own physical, psychological and spiritual limits, and this inspiration comes from one thing, hatred. This is why I created HEXEKRATION RITES : I want to go back to this primal essence of black metal, not only through the music, but also through its spirituality. Hatred is the key of power, hatred is the trigger of self emancipation, and over all the main source of inspiration for the band’s music and lyrics, and this is what I want to offer : a hate ritual.
I'll admit that your news made me sit on my ass. What I really like about you guys is that you are not only orthodox and real, but you don't forget about cold and dark melodies. Who is the composer of the music and how do you compose and create new HEXEKRATION RITES songs?
H.R. Arkyon: The process is simple, I first write and record demo tracks on my own. Then, I present those to the band in order to adjust / modify the weak points. Then a selection is made between all the material to select the strongest songs and sacrifice the rest to keep the very best. Finally, when everything is validated we begin the studio process.
What really caught my attention on the new album is the very raw and "dusty" sound. Where did you record the album, mix it, who is signed under production?
H.R. Arkyon: The mix was done by Arnhwald (Deathcode Society, Glaciation, Ecclesia…) with the instruction to make a massive sound that smells like sulfur. The goal was not to please everyone's ears but to translate all the hate and aggressiveness of our music. It required to make a stance on how the album was recorded and the mix was done but the result was worth it.
I was also interested in the album cover. If I understand it correctly, there are medieval weapons on it as a symbol of power. The cover is simple, a bit mysterious, but it fits the music perfectly. What exactly is this theme supposed to express? Who is the author? How did you get together and why him?
H.R. Arkyon: The artwork concept is mine and the actual art was made by Chris Moyen. The vertical axis represents the anchoring of our body-soul-spirit trinity, shown as the 3 arrows, to the mortal plane. That trinity needs to be transcend and unified to be reborned through darkness and hence reach illumination, shown as the torch. The horizontal axis symbolizes, through the choice of this athame (the flail) and its symmetrical representation, the sacrifices that must be done to take this path and the risks inherent to accomplish this ritual. In a nutshell this heraldic composition symbolizes the ritual that echoes the album title “Misanthropic path of carnal deliverance”. This is the path that must be taken, the inner fight and the sacrifices you must accept to overcome the human condition, its mortal fate and its weakness : in other words, to achieve immortality.
What are the lyrics on "Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance" about? Who is the author and where did you get the inspiration for them? Is it from books, old writings or movies?
H.R. Arkyon: The lyrics address the path taken by someone wishing to perform this ritual. This is a narrative at the first or the third person, but also the figurative tale that one can use to find inspiration for its own transcendence quest. I wrote these in a very spontaneous way, while listening and listening to the songs, words emerge from the void of my mind like sparks of clairvoyance. Then these words become sentences I am using to weave this tale with the music as my needle and the rhythm thread.
I can't help but ask. You play a style of metal that's extreme. You live in France. How are black death metal bands perceived by the general public? Do you have any problems with that? Do you get any space on TV, in the newspapers? How is life in your country influenced by Christianity, religions in general?
H.R. Arkyon: France is filled with many amazing bands, historical ones that are more or less active but also most recent ones that are touring and releasing albums. However the French scene encounters the same issues as others, we are all facing two major issues that I already mentioned before : all these fake and post black metal bands as well as the way internet warriors are exploiting our scene with their social and political agendas. At the same time France, unlike nordic countries, has never been a “rock” country so we still are an underground scene the normies cannot understand… and this is perfect since the underground is where we belong. But all this makes it difficult for black metal bands to perform on stage, we are even facing many cancellations because of sweaty pigs from twitter whose speeches scare venues and city councils… and if you add to this the crazy prices to rent venues for bookers… To answer your question about religion France is a secular country so we are not really impacted by Christianity (except for very rare and minor political occurences), and even if the islamization of our country is growing this is not, for now, an issue in strictly musical terms.
HEXEKRATION RITES have only been on the scene for a while. How far do you want to go? Big festivals, long tours? Are you just a project or a regular band that will work classically? After all, each of you must have a lot of commitments at work and with your families.
H.R. Arkyon: The goal is clearly to perform at festivals. I also think that touring is mandatory to communicate in a more intimate way with the public in smaller venues. Indeed we all have a normal job and a life beside music so it’s not easy to leave everything for several weeks during the year.
Looking back in history, how do you see the differences between now and your beginnings (as musicians)? Everything has changed - technology, sound, recording studios, we have the internet, downloading music. How have these changes affected the way the band operates? Have you had to adapt a lot?
H.R. Arkyon: Over the last three decades, technology made it easier for non professional musicians to make music, to record and to distribute their art and it’s a blessing but also a curse. It’s a blessing because it allows many underground bands to come to life ; I myself grew up with this phenomenon (I am 38) so I obviously took advantage of it. But it’s also a curse because now the scene is more about quantity than quality. In addition to this the black and the death metal genre don’t really evolve anymore so we are flooded with countless bands releasing countless albums that are most of the time insignificant and identical (the only originality is their visual concept, yes that’s where we are right now…). These bands are pushed in a frenetic way by labels and influencers (youtube etc) that are as insignificant and identical. And you know what is the worst in this? It works ! Today every copycat band can have a recording well produced (meaning a “good” mix) that will convince mainstream ears. Speaking of mix, another dark side is that everyone is using the same gear, the same VST presets, etc, so everyone has the same modern kind of sound. Consequently, if you want to embrace a more underground approach, you run the risk of losing visibility... but we just don't care because it would means denature the essence of our musical genre : We have to push our limits in different way, musically, the sound we are using, but also on stage or in our lives… To sum up we must get back to the roots and the authenticity of these extreme scenes. And that’s what I try to do with the band.
How are you doing with gigs? Do you like to play and play often? And are you more comfortable with big festivals or small clubs? What about promoting the new album, are you planning a tour?
To me, live gigs must be the carnal materialization of a musical recording: it's not just a question of being able to play it on stage, but also of physically embodying all the energy of the music itself. So to me it’s very important to play live because this is the moment where you can literally be your own music and finally release all the energy that you have accumulated into an extra-sensorial explosion. And this last point is all too often disappointing because many bands seem to play live as if they were in a rehearsal, and this is not something I’m seeking for. So yes of course we like to play gigs, and no matter the size ; every stage has its own atmosphere, and it can be as great to play in front of hundreds of people in an open air as playing in a very small (but intimate) venue with a few people. For instance, a France and Belgium tour with our diabolical friends from MALHKEBRE to promote the album just ended last june, and we had a blast in all sorts of venues because what matters is not the quantity of gigs we play but the quality of the public, bands, venue, etc.
I have the feeling lately that when it comes to extreme styles, it's really alive in France. Especially death and black metal bands are great! I've been coming to review the new record, doing interviews and I feel like your scene is very strong. But that's my perspective as someone who lives outside France. What is your opinion? What about gigs, promoters, clubs, extreme metal music shops?
H.R. Arkyon: As already said earlier France has very good active bands (Ritualization, Venefixion, Necroblood, Destruction Ritual, Sépulcre, Malhkebre…) but it became very complicated to perform live in a regular way without dealing with managers and bookers. As said before, France is not really a rock country, venues are expensive and all the coolest metal shops closed many years ago (just like many underground venues). Thankfully we still have good distros.
What are HEXEKRATION RITES planning in the next few months? If you have something to say and would like to say something to fans, labels, promoters, here is the space...
H.R. Arkyon: Now that the album is out and alive we are working on the next one, and its writing has already started ! We are also looking for gigs and festivals to play at, so you can contact us at hexekrationrites@gmail.com.
Thank you very much for the interview and I wish not only the new album great sales. May your concerts be sold out. I'll be looking forward to one of them. I wish you all the best in your personal lives as well. May the power be with you! HEXEKRATION RITES FOREVER!
H.R. Arkyon: Thank you Jakub for this interview, and for your dedication to the scene with Deadly Storm Zine!
Recenze/review - HEXEKRATION RITES - Misanthropic Path of Carnal Deliverance (2025):
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