Review: Haxprocess – Beyond What Eyes Can See 

Style: Progressive death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Blood Incantation, Death, Morbid Angel
Country: Florida, United States
Release date: 25 July 2025

Between the summers of 2017 and 2018, I had the misfortune of living in the oppressively muggy hellscape that is Jacksonville, Florida. I was in my mid-twenties, fresh out of law school, and ready to complete a year-long gig that happened to be based there. Surely the coastal city—geographically one of the largest in the United States—has some nice areas and redeeming qualities, but those aren’t what I remember. No, the Dirty J was home to a dilapidated downtown area, characterless suburban sprawl, a rash of severe storms, and incessant swampy heat. I really can’t think of a better setting to inspire some winding, gritty, feverish death metal. And that’s exactly what we get from Jacksonville’s own Haxprocess.

The band’s sophomore album, Beyond What Eyes Can See, offers forty-five minutes of progressive death metal packed into four meaty tracks. Drawing clear inspiration from Blood Incantation, these Floridians place psychedelic twists among wandering riffs, all given life by a warm, old-school-tinged production. Haxprocess’s sound is heavy, but at the same time open and expansive—much like their overstretched hometown. In case you couldn’t tell, I wasn’t a fan of my year in Jacksonville. Will Beyond What Eyes Can See bring something good out of that godforsaken city?

Haxprocess’s style of death metal can be distilled down to two words: riff salad. Countless riffs comprise the band’s long, freeform compositions, frequently taking a core idea and permuting it several times over—rhythmically, in phrasing, and in texture. A captivating dual-guitar attack characterizes Beyond What Eyes Can See, as one guitar often strays from the other, comes back with harmonization, or unites fully for emphasis. The album holds plenty of strong leads and solos as well. Although the drums are consistently shifting and grooving, and the bass occasionally pokes out with some runs of its own, the guitars are clearly the central focus, and the album’s better for it. 

Once in a while, Haxprocess cease the heavy, greasy riffing and stray into psychedelic territory. The final few minutes of “The Confines of the Flesh” feature a few dreamier passages amidst the fray, and “Thy Inner Demon Seed” comes to a halt about halfway through and switches over to an infectiously trippy section built atop lighter, swirling guitars. Album closer “Sepulchral Void” pulls a similar trick around its midpoint as well, offering a compelling bridge of clean guitars and emphatic volume swells. Although the airy passages are a welcome break from the serpentine death metal, they could be incorporated a little more smoothly. These shifts to lighter atmospheres aren’t the only sticky compositional points on the album, either—across all tracks but with notable frequency in the closer, the band come to a hard stop simply to switch from one heavy texture to another. Despite being four long tracks, Beyond What Eyes Can See can feel like an album of bits and pieces. 

In a similar vein, the tracks’ lengths aren’t always fully justified. Opener “Where Even Stars Die” does a good job of stringing together strong parts cohesively and varying textures logically, but the other tracks aren’t quite as successful. “The Confines of the Flesh,” particularly, tests just how many similar pinch-harmonic-centered riffs a listener can endure as it wanders from part to part. And throughout the album, many riffs begin to sound the same—a shocking amount end with only slightly varying, choppy triplet phrases. On the whole, the songs tend to be a little bloated. That said, the Haxprocess do strike gold now and again: the harmonized, drawling riff that closes “Thy Inner Demon Seed,” as well as the track’s psychedelic middle bridge, are prime examples. It’s passages like these that pull the listener back in and keep the album engaging.

Ultimately, Beyond What Eyes Can See is a solid take on riff-centered, sprawling, and sometimes spacey death metal with old-school flair. Compositionally, the album leaves a bit to be desired, and the tracks’ component pieces aren’t always of even quality. Still, there’s plenty of guitar work to enjoy, and the highest points are full of creativity and intrigue. Haxprocess might not have done the unthinkable and redeemed Jacksonville in my mind, but Beyond What Eyes Can See is more enjoyable than anything else I remember of that wretched city.

Recommended tracks: Where Even Stars Die, Thy Inner Demon Seed
You may also like: Ancient Death, Horrendous, Bedsore, Felgrave, Tomb Mold
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Haxprocess is:
– Lothar Mallea (guitars and vocals)
– Shane Williamson (guitars)
– Davis Leader (bass)
– Adam Robinson (drums)