HEXECUTOR
- Metal Militia
- Aug 19, 2025
- 7 min read
// While perhaps a scene not as appreciated by Americans, the French metal battalions seem to always deliver in numbers. Amongst their most talented bands is the blackened thrash outfit known as HEXECUTOR. Hailing from the French region of Brittany, these guys know how to take their local culture and mix it with crushing riffs and rhythm work, resulting in a unique sound that I’ve never quite heard before or since. I had the pleasure of speaking with frontman Jey Deflagratör about HEXECUTOR’s history, influences, and their (at the time of writing this) upcoming album, “…Where Spirit Withers in Its Flesh Constraint.”
IN ADDITION: if you’re in France this June and have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, don’t miss these guys on the main stage of the mighty Hellfest! //
Hello! Would you mind giving a quick introduction on yourselves and HEXECUTOR?
↪ Jey plays guitar and is the main singer, Ricky plays guitar and most solos, Putrid plays the drums and Chainsaw Maeströr plays the bass. We are based in Rennes in Brittany.
Your new album “…Where Spirit Withers in Its Flesh Constraint” features more French songs than your past releases, which I find very interesting considering the album has an English title. What prompted this decision?
↪ Yeah, the full title of the combined album concepts is in English: “Beyond any human conception of knowledge where spirit withers from its flesh constraint.” It is also a title to a song which is the last one composed by Joey Demönömaniac who died symbolically in the lyrics too. We’ve been thinking since the first album to do something fully in French – either an EP or a full album – but we were not ready then; it takes time you know. I exercised myself on tracks like “La Sorcière du Marais” or “Ker Ys,” and for this third album I was thinking this would be the appropriate time. Seldom was I fully satisfied as I always write first in French and then translate to English, you tend to lose most of the charm and poetry, for example with “Marquise de Brinvilliers” the result was a pure disappointment in English for me, and I wish to re-record a French version someday...
In addition, the new album kicks off with a track named after your 2020 album, “Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge…” Does this mean your new album is a continuation of your last?
↪ Yes, as I said in the previous answer, this double-concept album on Breton legends has been planned since 2017 – it's an idea that Joey and I came up with, and we already knew that the two titles would come together to form one track. It's a continuation in the theme and geographically/culturally-speaking too, given that all the tracks are set in Brittany. The topics may span from very far to some old cairns to more recent historical figures, up to the 19th century. We’ve made a map for each album in the LP version, where each of the topics/songs are marked with their own symbol.
On this new release, HEXECUTOR has also lost guitarist Joey Demönömaniac, but has gained Ricky Malevolent. I really dug a lot of Joey’s guitar work on the past albums – what led to his departure?
↪ Thank you very much, we also loved what he did for HEXECUTOR. Personal and professional choices led him to leave, but we're still on very good terms, and we'll be playing with him again very soon. Ricky had already replaced Joey twice on stage in the past, and it was – for all of us – him who could replace Joey.
Tell me about your choice to write about Celtic-Breton folklore. I can’t think of many French bands who write about this kind of thing!
↪ When I arrived in Brittany in 2010, I fell in love with the country. I started with Rennes and all of Ille-Et-Vilaine (North-Eastern part of Brittany), then I crossed the 4 other departments (Finistère, Morbihan, Cotes d'Armor and Loire Atlantique). At every place I went, I gathered information, bought books, visited castles, menhirs, cairns, dolmens, museums, etc... I became immersed in legends and historical figures, and the idea sprang to life with Joey and Putrid, who both grew up in Brittany. We couldn't go on doing another song about Countess Bathory for instance, so we found our local female serial killer to glorify her in a song – her name is Helene Jegado – and that was that! Joey and I lived just where she was executed in 1852, on the Champ de Mars in Rennes. After this song, we decided to do a double album on local legends, macabre facts, and some peculiar historical figures to bring out these forgotten stories. One should point out for those unaware of it, that Brittany is somehow as different to France as is Scotland to the rest of Britain/UK, historically, culturally and linguistically-speaking.
I’m curious about the French underground scene. I love a good deal of French bands, but I’ve heard mixed things about the behaviors of different people who attend metal gigs in France. Have you ever had any negative experiences while playing shows?
↪ I don't know… in Rennes it was always perfect – the gigs at the mighty Mondo Bizarro (RIP), people were really receptive to the music, a great energy, but it depends on the town and its crowd I suppose. We have a great promoter in Rennes, Garmonbozia, and he brings a lot of amazing bands here. In France, we have our crowd you know, really passionate fans that follow us everywhere – we can't complain really, we are lucky with that! We have a pretty good scene in Brittany, but elsewhere in France too. We hail to NECROWRETCH, MORTAL SCEPTER, VENEFIXION, SÉPULCRE, SKELETHAL, IRONSLAUGHT, LORD GALLERY, PROFANATION, DUNWITCH RITUAL, SACRIFIZER, HERZEL, and many more...
In another interview I read, I saw you mention “A Lesson in Violence” by EXODUS being a song that helped the original HEXECUTOR members bond. Since your sound has only evolved into something more violent and extreme since then, what other music has brought you all together?
↪ Yes, we started with something more speed/thrash – EXODUS, SLAYER, DESTRUCTION, KREATOR... will remain our lifelong influences. On the demo we learned to play clearly, we sharpened our music on the EP, and from the first album we found a recipe that we've continued and refined on the two last albums. At first, I wondered if some riffs weren't for another project, but we started to integrate them gradually, and at the same time we listen to a lot of 70's and 80's rock, heavy metal, death metal and even some folk and trad bands.
Similar to that last question, has your more extreme style of thrash helped you navigate the modern metal landscape? I’d imagine that standard thrash bands are probably more limited than bands like yourselves, who play a more blackened style of thrash.
↪ We don't listen to modern metal as such, but if you're talking about the current scene, yes, I think we couldn't evolve by always playing the same thing. We're not interested in offering the same album for 40 years. In our music, there are simply no limits. It's violent, melodic, there are accelerations and slowdowns, we keep certain codes from each style and mix them together – it is a real laboratory in which we take pleasure in creating!
Aside from thrash, you also have a fair bit of traditional heavy metal in your sound. What bands influenced you in that area of your music? I’m guessing the big French players like ADX, SORTILÈGE, BLASPHÈME, H-BOMB, etc. had a large role in that, but any others?
↪ Yes, exactly for the Heavy Metal scene in France in the '80s, there are the 4 bands you mentioned, but also “Larmes de Héros” (SORTILÈGE) and “Exécution” (ADX) which played a very big role for HEXECUTOR – and I’ll let you imagine what impact the cover of “Exécution” had on our logo... BLASPHÈME for me is “Desir de Vampyr,” I travelled to the other side of France to see them at the Vouziers Festival in 2013 alongside VULCAIN – “Rock 'n' Roll Secours” is also our pride and joy, I must admit. And then there are KILLERS, whose first 4 albums are terrific, as well as TRUST, HIGH POWER, STOCKS, SATAN JOKERS, WARNING, ATTENTAT ROCK and many others...
HEXECUTOR has been around since 2011, but it seems like you’re finally making it to the big leagues. You played Dying Victims’ Attack Vol. 3 festival last spring, and in a few months you’ll take the stage at Hellfest! How does it feel knowing you’ll be playing to such a massive crowd?
↪ It's always a pleasure to play in front of lots of people. We've actually already had this experience and yes, the first time it felt weird was our first time at Hellfest in 2018 – we were really impressed to be on this big stage. It's a good thing we're going back there at Hellfest this year to promote our third album, even if we know that our die-hard audience probably won't be at this festival – the festival has changed a lot since its beginning. It’s great as well with the Dying Victims’ Attack, it will be kind of our release party there as well. Dying Victims is the label which we are now signed on, so I guess it is a perfect thing we’re presenting our new album there, and it’s good to do it outside our home town for once. Other than that, we did play in some other decent sized festivals, as the SWR in Portugal, Motocultor in Brittany, or the Fall of Summer near Paris.
Outside of music, what other passions do you have?
↪ History, cinema, sports and music of course! We tend not to give too many details about our personal lives, but here are a few things we can share. For instance, for my part I sing in another project called CABARET FANTÔME, but also bass in a wee RORY GALLAGHER tribute band called the JAMMY FORESTERS. Putrid used to play drums for about 15 years in the BAGAD DE VANNES, a Breton pipe band, which was ranking 4th/5th in Brittany. He now plays drums in the French death metal band SKELETHAL as well. He also likes sports and long hikes. Chainsaw Maeströr is a roofer, he worked recently on the roof of the Notre-Dame de Paris. Ricky is a guitar teacher, he plays a lot of different styles. I guess in regard to music from Brittany, we could name but one, ALAN STIVELL. The Breton trad music scene is as rich as the Irish one, for example, yet far less renowned internationally. Literature-wise we should name “The Legend of Death” by Anatole Le Braz (who lived for a few years in the US).
What’s on the horizon for HEXECUTOR? Aside from Hellfest in June, do you have any other large performances/tours planned?
↪ Yeah, we will be coming back soon to Poland, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. There will also be our next European Tour in October. Hopefully we’ll cross the Atlantic some day, way before we reach Avalon.
Thanks for entertaining my questions! Any final words?
↪ Thanks so much, and thanks to all the people that believe in our music and follow us!
Interviewed: January of 2025
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