Wednesday, October 8, 2008

EXMORTUS - In Hatred's Flame CD review


EXMORTUS - In Hatred's Flame CD
Heavy Artillery Records

Imagine if this happened. Take the essence of early Death Metal, the piss of Yngwie and of course the after show vomit from an EXODUS gig. Pour the contents into a blender, mix it all up and feed it for breakfast to four kids from Calif throughout their childhood. When those kids grow up they will become the band EXMORTUS. Now for an Extreme Music fan like myself this all sounds great. It's like an all you eat Metal buffet. In Hatred's Flame simply knocks down genre barriers and slaps the faces of smug purists. Keep in mind that Heavy Artillery Records has been important in releasing some of the best new Thrash acts of late. Bands like MERCILESS DEATH and AVENGER OF BLOOD being incrediable examples. But EXMORTUS is beyond pigeonholing.

Where do you start? Ok vocal-wise it's old school Death Metal but not a total cookie monster episode. The guy is actually singing in a gruff rasp with some bellows breathing at times plus a few screams and growls. Lyrically you'd think this was a Battle Metal release with song titles like "Valor and Might" or "Glory on the Battlefield". Musically EXMORTUS run wild all over the fucking Death/Thrash template. The riffs are intense. The drums mix blast beats with steady rhythms. And then those Yngwie Malmsteen leads run wild through out. Listen to "Axe's of War" for an Yngwie treatment gone wild. The best of everything coming together as one is on songs like "Storms" and "Fimbulwinter". Although I'd say everything about this release is great. And years from now we'll be speaking about In Hatred's Flame as one of the best of the decade.

www.heavyartillery.us

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