Review & Full Album Premiere: Hexecutioner, Tornit
Tomorrow, May 30, Seattle’s Hexecutioner self-release their second album, Tornit. And from the first takeoff after the initial sample at the beginning of “Skookum” — a quick “Did you hear that?” — the marching, swinging, shoving riffs hold sway as guitarist/vocalist/bassist Erin Gravina and drummer Bryce Hebner lumber through densely-distorted, somewhat raw soundscapes. On paper, the four-track/36-minute long-player isn’t anything so crazy in terms of upending genre, but there is a sharp-cornered edge to the groove, Gravina‘s vocals are declarative, and the two-piece configuration, even with the bass/guitar as the third element (because certainly there are guitar/drum and bass/drum duos, I mean), provides them an opportunity to fill the spaces of their sound in their own way.
Does that mean they’ll eventually get a keyboard player? Hell if I know, but Tornit manages to construct a vivid atmosphere even without one. “Submission” is the shortest inclusion at 7:09, with another layered vocal and march with the drums punctuating. As they move into the chorus, there’s some flash of Pallbearer-style doomed melody, but the repetitive nature of Hexecutioner‘s grooves and the resulting trance state puts them somewhere else stylistically. The song opens and moves through its grungey comedown with a crackling fire, and I’ll admit I’m not entirely sure what has burned, but in my defense, neither have I seen the lyrics.
If you caught onto Hexecutioner‘s 2024 debut, Pagan Ground, what’s happening throughout Tornit demonstrates ready growth and forward progress in songwriting. The material, each 
individual track, has gotten longer and more fleshed out, and the tones have been somewhat streamlined into the consuming swell of the 11-minute “Bind My Foe,” which again resonates with a doomly aspect, and holds its lumber from start to finish.
Pagan Ground, as the title hints, was more occult-themed — the crusher “Cuntie” notwithstanding — and “Bind My Foe” would seem to manifest that, but Tornit (which may or may not take its name from an Inuit cryptid), seems to be pushing back on cultistry as well. “Rogue” engages with the natural world in its initial frog-chorus sample — on point with the crackling fire, low nighttime voices, and so on — and is a bit faster, but does not feel restrained in the way cult rock often does with its roots in folk and prog. Hexecutioner, in contrast, are letting loose as they wrap their second album with a speedier riff-ride and bring it down quickly as though they had to finish making this record in time to start the next one. I don’t know that that’s the case, but I don’t know that it’s not, either.
There are any number of appeals here, honestly. Gravina‘s vocals have character and poise, the tones are rich and concrete-grey and the groove they lead is engrossing and so very, very much the focus. What I think I like best about Tornit though is that that focus is conveyed so clearly and in a manner so outward-facing. There’s no pretense here. There’s no grandstanding or obfuscating the musical point they’re trying to make or the intention behind the material, which one from an outsider’s point of view might summarize as, “here’s riffs, fuggin’ eat ’em.” There is room in their sound for growth, for dynamic, but I hear monolithic intent in Hexecutioner‘s output to-date, and will be curious over time to hear how they continue to develop.
As it stands, they are correspondingly heavy on nod and light on bullshit. There are few combinations more welcome coming out of my speakers.
PR wire info follows the album stream below. Please enjoy:
Formed in 2021 from Seattle’s fertile heavy music scene, Hexecutioner announced themselves in thunderous fashion with 2024’s “Pagan Ground”. Crushing tones, bulldozer riffs, and Erin Gravina’s haunting vocals made for a brutally heavy debut, and the duo have uncovered new depths to continue the next step in their dark evolution with sophomore album “Tornit”.
Building on the occult rock undercurrent running through “Pagan Ground”, Gravinas and drummer Bryce Hebner tighten the screws and dive further into the ritualism of their heaving stoner and doom. Across four 7-minute-plus tracks, the dense, filthy tones and relentless drumming combine to lock into groove after groove with a single-minded intensity.
Tracklisting:
1. Skookum (8:59)
2. Submission (7:09)
3. Bind My Foe (11:08)
4. Rogue (8:48)
Music and Lyrics composed by Erin Gravina
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Dylan Wall at 7Hills and Studio Litho in Seattle, WA in 2025
Cover Artwork – Ferg Gustuvwind and Erin Gravina
Hexecutioner is:
Erin Gravina – Guitars, Vocals, Bass
Bryce Hebner – Drums
