This day, January 15th, 2026 AD, shall remain in history as the day when the Bells of The Exxûl rang out to the farthest reaches of this world, tearing apart the veil of the legends of the Perpetual Planes and calling upon The Warriors Of Doom to rise and stand brave at the final hour of all things!
And it was from there, from the tower of Exxûl and the second-highest mountain peak, that five musical adventurers were destined to pour forth into our own reality: Stargazer (vocals), Defender (guitars), Sentinel (bass), Spectre (synths), and Etherial Hammer (drums). After nearly five years of battles, quests, and escapades, the first chapter of their musical saga has now been completed, written between 2020–2022 and recorded between 2021–2025.
Naturally, I am referring to the Canadians EXXÛL and their debut album entitled “Sealed Into None”.
Originally founded in 2020 under the name of CRESTFALLEN, it took EXXÛL almost four years to find a heavy metal vocalist from their home province of Québec who matched the vision and sound of the album they had written but shelved away for just as long.
He was none other than the one and only Thomas Karam of NOOR – who, beyond his unimaginably gifted voice, also contributed decisively to the lyrical expression of EXXÛL, having written almost all of their lyrics.
Upon completing their line-up after a fateful meeting, word began to spread throughout the scene. EXXÛL was soon asked to perform a series of shows in Canada, including a show with ETERNAL CHAMPION, to showcase material from their cassette-only rehearsal demos and their anticipated debut album. These shows made it clear that EXXÛL is not a side project and that the band is eager to showcase their unique sound both on the road and abroad.
And so, they did!
With the support of Productions TSO, the debut of EXXÛL is now a reality – released today digitally, with the CD and MC editions following in late February and, one month later, the LP edition in late March.
But what exactly is “Sealed Into None”?
I believe that even those who had already heard the sound of EXXÛL through their previous demo releases were not prepared for this pitch-black, all-consuming storm that dominates the album’s sound. I certainly was not.
“Sealed Into None” is compositionally based almost exclusively on the ideas of Defender (aka Philippe Tougas), who draws inspiration from the Perpetual Planes lore and mythology that ties into the lyrics of the bands CHTHE’ILIST, ATRAMENTUS, and ZEICRYDEUS, in which he also participates as a primary –at times sole– creative force. Drawing from sources such as atmospheric death metal, dragging funeral doom, and elaborate blackened thrash, and combining the pompous, crushing demeanor of Epic Doom Metal, the sharp velocity and uplifting vocals of USPM, as well as the dark textures of traditional black metal, EXXÛL succeed in forging a sound entirely their own.
Perhaps the most accurate description would be dark epic power/doom.
But it ultimately does not matter how one chooses to describe the music of EXXÛL, nor whether one cites SOLITUDE AETERNUS and early CANDLEMASS, MORGANA LEFAY and MEMENTO MORI, ETERNAL CHAMPION and early MANOWAR, VENI DOMINE, or CONFESSOR as reference points. What matters is that what EXXÛL deliver on their debut is something so powerful and so significant that it cannot be ignored or diminished – by ANYONE.
The album opens with an evocative introduction, “Bells of The Exxûl”, courtesy of Spectre (aka François Bilodeau, also a member of ATRAMENTUS). The prelude continues with crushing force, built from deep choral keyboards, rich riffs, and a guitar solo, for almost another two minutes of the album’s total ten-and-a-half-minute “Blighted Deity” – a track that simultaneously carries all the grandeur of epic doom and the lyrical darkness of the American power metal sound. The entire quintessence of MANOWAR’s “Into Glory Ride”, this primal, archaic epicness, is transmuted into a cleverly blackened incarnation. I could not help but shiver with emotion.
Even more mysterious is the introduction to “Walls of Endless Darkness”, where the rampant performance of Sentinel (bass) and Etherial Hammer (drums), together with the contribution of Spectre (synths), prepares us perfectly for the rhythmic, heavy, and dark unfolding of its haunting melody, until the crescendo erupts in the roughly two-minute finale. A total, destructive triumph of epic doom grandeur!
More progressive and narrative-driven, clearly treading the same dark power/doom paths but infused with astonishingly theatrical elements, both through Spectre’s keyboards and Stargazer’s incredible vocal performance, “Labyrinthine Fate” single-handedly elevates the entire album to a position of compositional prominence.
The curtain falls with “The Screaming Tower”, a song of truly epic proportions in every sense. Honestly, since it is readily available for listening, I do not believe I should steal your time by describing what I personally feel about it – instead, at this very moment, seek it out and listen to it! A monolithic piece, with such immense specific gravity that REVEREND BIZARRE and their own monumental debut immediately came to mind. I cannot help but pause at that point midway through the song where what are referred to as “Unyielding Resolve/The Oath/Despair’s Treacherous Blade” are heard – essentially a triple solo by Defender’s guitar, accompanied first by Stargazer’s voice and then by Sentinel’s bass. Peak moments!
Someday, the years and the eras of today’s world will have passed. And the chronicler of the future will turn the pages of dusty tomes of past musical metal works and, somewhere within them, will encounter the release of “Sealed Into None”. The words its creators will have carved into eternity for it, I believe, will be sufficient – simple, yet almighty: TRUE QUEBEC POWER DOOM!
Or, as I would elaborately describe it: when inspiration is capable of forging something that inspires such awe that it alone ignites an epic uprising from the inside out, and not the other way around – as happens with the flashy embellishments of the assembly line in today’s metal music plethora and the falsehoods of its mimic fashion.
“Sealed Into None” will be released on February 20th on CD and MC, and on March 20th on LP, all courtesy of Productions TSO – The Stygian Oath.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
