Album Review: Hebephrenique – Decathexis (Gutter Prince Cabal/Brilliant Emperor Records)

Australian death metal outfit Hebephrenique are set to release their debut album, Decathexis, on the 23rd of August 2025.

The album follows their impressive debut EP, Non Compos Mentis, which came out in 2023 following the band’s formation in 2021. Decathexis sees Hebephrenique expand further on their sound which is really a fusion of heavy genres. From death metal, with a touch of industrial and plenty of black metal all wrapped up in dissonance, emotional chaos and dystopian dread.

Non Compos Mentis set the scene for Hebephrenique but Decathexis is really where the band are set to unleash as they look to build on a strong early impression and really announce themselves.

Hebephrenique is Jack Greenhill on guitars, bass and keyboards, and Kris Wolf on vocals.

Decathexis gives us 7 tracks to get stuck in to and weighs in at around 38 minutes. I’m not familiar with the band so this is a first time for me. The atmospheric/industrial intro to opener Stasis doesn’t give much away but does set a scene. A dark, and tense one. It’s not what I expected, to be honest, I guess I expected it to be a straight out of the gates blast of heaviness so I’m really pleased and excited by this opener. At 3 and half minutes long, I kept expecting it to switch from the sombre atmospherics into something more akin to death metal but it doesn’t. It’s an intro track, a long one, and it’s pretty cool.

Visions Of Magdalene is then my first real taste of Hebephrenique and it’s very different to the intro track, and very chaotic. There is a lot happening on drums but no drummer listed so I presume it’s a machine. The vocals are intense and a little insane – it’s noisy, manic with riffs bouncing all over the place and certainly not something I could categorise as death or black or any one single thing really. A slowed section sees it tie back to the intro with some atmosphere setting, and some keys before the riffs and vocals take over again.

As mad as it is, it is clever and challenging and the more I listen, the more I start settling and syncing with it. I, Adverse keeps me on the edge of my seat with another blast of madness. The vocals are like a hurricane – moving through tones and shouts and growls, sounding passionate and like I may be having a breakdown. The riffs are quirky, and technical but really cool. There is a chug from the bass and the drums are fiery and frantic. Then suddenly, it all stops and a touch of melody takes over backed by the sounds of demonic growls layered over each other to create a feeling of madness. The manic side of the band returns in a hypnotic section where the drums kick off and the riff turns to a meandering repeating melody. It’s very clever stuff.

Ascent To Derilation give us a short reprieve from our descent into madness with a sub 3 minute track that is a welcome surprise and a real palette cleanser. It’s much more settled in style, but no less powerful or emotional with a gorgeous guitar solo and melody driven movement. The vocals are great but it’s the guitar melody that drives this one.

The reprieve is over so Argumentum Ad Baculum sees Hebephrenique ramp things back up. Moving from a pretty normal guitar and drum driven intro, we then switch to a bouncy pop rock riff. Vocals come in and chaos ensues. The riffs are winding and the layered riff section is awesome. The vocals rage and shout, scream and growl all while bedded firmly into the music. There is so much going on – it’s got a punk feel at times, some noise rock, plenty of technicality and plenty of straight up blasts of death metal but all of that is combined into a track that hurts my brain in good ways.

To Inflict Or Nurture is the penultimate track on Decathexis and it’s a banger – probably my favourite so far. That might be partially because it is a little more settled, or maybe I am more in sync now. Either way it’s a feast of mad riffs and drums, thick bass lines and heavy growled vocals. There is still plenty of atmosphere, plenty of emotion and plenty of darkness but you can catch the beat, you can headbang and will want to let loose here. It feels quite cathartic as a track and also packs an awesome solo.

And so to the final track which is the title track, Decathexis. It’s also the longest track on the album at over 8 minutes and I just hope I don’t come out of this a dribbling wreck. Being a longer track, Hebephrenique really makes use of the time with a twisting and raucous track that moves through many phases. Manic riffing and hypnotic repetition make up big slabs of the song. The vocals are spiteful and intense. We then have a stunning slowdown with impressive keys adding ambience, while the guitars drop emotional melody. I love the combination of keys and growled vocals here – it’s very listenable. Very hypnotic.

It also acts as a great way to lull us in and then bring back the heavier edge of the band with a blast of punky rock riffs to mess with our minds a bit. Another slow down comes as we approach the end with a moment for our minds to be still. It’s gorgeous, gentle atmospheric and ambient. I thought that might be the track done and we would get this through to the close but to my delight, staying in the powerful emotionally atmospheric style, the guitars and vocals come in for a final blast of magic before we close.

Decathexis is a really impressive album and Hebephrenique are clearly a band with a lot of talent, creativity and ability. It’s an album that demands further listens and I think that each play will uncover new layers and unveil more of the band to you. As a first listen, it is not instantly easy to listen to, but you quickly appreciate how clever it is. It’s music that is clearly designed to attack your senses and create unease and in that, it is hugely successful. It’s definitely worth investing your time in to and I’m excited to see how it goes down with listeners, as well as what comes next from the band.

Track List:

1 -Stasis
2 – Visions Of Magdalene
3 – I, Adverse
4 – Ascent To Derilation
5 – Argumentum Ad Baculum
6 – To Inflict Or Nurture
7 – Decathexis

Hebephrenique Links

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