By Lee Newman
My first exposure to Exhumed was on one of those larger-budget, testosterone-fueled metal tours that come through Studio 7 from time to time. On a bill with at least eight bands, Exhumed were the highlight. They approached their gore-filled setlist with a campy sort of joie de vivre, bringing to mind Ghoul or even Municipal Waste. Halfway through their set, they raised their guitars above their heads to reveal that GORE FUCKING METAL had been emblazoned in a splattery red scrawl across the backs of their instruments. It was totally cheesy, and it was awesome.
Exhumed have always been tongue-in-cheek, and it comes across on this record from the barked imploration to “move your ass” in “Sickened” to the mouthful that is the term “Necrocracy” (and their bastardized version of the pledge of allegiance in the title track’s chorus). Even the album’s cover, with its campy Soviet font and gore-splashed artwork, is more fun than foul.
However, despite their healthy sense of humor, the glee that I felt during their live show does not truly come across on this album. This is a record with riffs aplenty, but not all of them work. Some of their parts soar, like the symphonic harmony-heavy transitions in “(So Passes) the Glory of Death”. They just as easily dip into loose-limbed death metal swagger, sounding like the Gothenburg creeps of old on tracks like “Necrocracy” with its vicious bass rattle and double-kick intro. However, the pummeling can seem mindless; forging ahead at a whiplash-inducing pace like the band is dead-set on cramming every idea they have into each song. But that’s not to say they won’t pump you up; you’d be a fool not to mosh to these songs. It’s pure energy from start to finish, despite its tendency to overwhelm.
The playing on “Necrocracy” is extremely tight, just like the production. There’s nothing sloppy here. It’s absolutely controlled chaos, and lacks a little of death metal’s devil-may-care bravado – no notes out of place, no atonal I-have-no-idea-what-the-fuck-I’m-doing soloing. Because of that, this gorefest can come off as ironically sterile. Despite being fun, these riffs could use some serious grime. There are some truly fantastic moments sprinkled throughout this record – we get a creeping acoustic transition in “Dysmorphic” that sounds like it was dragged straight out of the grave of the early ‘90s. There’s also some atonal, almost black metal arpeggiation in “Ravening”. But like all the standout moments on this album, they don’t last long before being swallowed up by an abyss of blistering yet homogenous riff stew.
Despite the obvious tributes to old-school death metal filth, this is a distinctly 21st century record. There’s as much old-school Autopsy and Carcass stuff here as there is modern-day progressive metal. The crisp production belies the gnarlier subject matters, and there are definitely some moments here and there that border ominously on deathcore. Despite having a million and a half riffs, this is a solid album. Here’s hoping that when they tour behind this album in the fall, they imbue it with the exuberance it deserves.
“Necrocracy” riffs its way into the world on August 6, via Relapse.
