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Exence > Hystrionic > Reviews
Exence - Hystrionic

Death are gone, but there are followers... - 75%

Lane, January 16th, 2011

This time around, from the fertile underground of Italian metal music, Exence are storming onwards and taking no prisoners. Or that's what they wish for... A band called Essence was formed in 2000 and they released one demo, before changing their name to Exence. The name might be a bit weird, but does its job better than the former one, eh?

No matter what the name is, but I believe Exence can really shine out loud, if all currents work prosperously for them. The band's biggest influence is newer Death, especially the albums 'Symbolic' and 'The Sound of Perseverance' (1993 and 1995 respectively), but not just because the song 'Symbolic Act' tributes two songs from those albums. Death's more technical side, which really took the controls on 1991's 'Human', is what Exence want to do, and they do not hide the influence, but yield it with pride. And that basically is the right way to do it. Death are no more, so Exence carry on the legacy left by virtuoso Chuck Schuldiner. Add some down-tuned stylings and especially some thrashy stuff into the alloy and there you got what's Exence. They do sound up-to-date, but 100% metal. Their style is not unique by any means, but it is almost entirely adjusted for my ears. The songs offer fantastic journeys to the land of riffs and pecualiar yet functional rhythmic works, usually on the technical side of the things, but with some straight parts, which do not fracture the compositions at all. The technicality and the catchiness in perfect balance... The composer is guitarist Federico Puleri (about the fucking time I notice he also plays in Vision Divine, whose "Pule" albums I have in my collection...), and he really knows the axe and how to make it scream! And his tasty soloing must be mentioned too; also very memorable.

Talking about scream, the vocalist Massimiliano "Screamer" Pasciuto really screams his lungs out, if in a bit invariant way. Think about more high-pitched version of Chuck Schuldiner. But that high-pitchedness also means he sounds like Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy at some points. His voice really leaves a mixed feeling, something like of neuter gender. The lyrics, which mainly deal with reflecting personal, spiritual thoughts of a human being, are written in pretty bad English. Soundwise this is okay; the instruments are nicely heard, but more punch would... Well, give it even more punch! Anyways, the drums by Francesco "Breeze" Brizzi sound too machiney soundwise, and this causes the slight lack of power. He really can handle them, offering varying beats. The bass played by Mirko "BassBreaker" Serra is truly versatile. The cover promises more progressive metal, but that makes this experience even more powerful. Never judge any album by its cover...

Exence are a great acquaintance, especially for someone like me, who misses continuation for Death's works. Musically excellent, with some small defects around it otherwise, but many of which depend on listeners' tastes. One for those to try, who seek some new technical extreme metal. Beware, Exence might ensnare you!

Do you miss Death? - 88%

Sapspopse, August 1st, 2009

I sure do. This here is about as close as one can ever get to "Sound of Perseverance/Symbolic" era Death. Technical death metal has definitely evolved since then. I actually like the newer stuff, but every now and again I miss the earlier sounds of the genre and wonder what would have happened if Chuck had not passed away. Would he be into the insanely brutal style that has developed? I'm not sure...

What we have here is shredding ultra-fast guitars with a dry, clean production. Excellent drumming and great songwriting. Also some very nice solos. Can't really hear the bass very well but you can't have everything. Even the vocals sounds like Schuldiner - a higher-pitched shriek as opposed to most death vocals these days. Progressive in its songwriting and structure. I suppose a downside would be the fact that the riffs, while good, are not quite as imaginative as the master's when he was still alive - there is sometimes an unimaginative "chugga-chugga" to be found - but overall this is a very good debut.

If you are looking for overly brutal death metal - go elsewhere. However, if you enjoyed the beginnings of technical death metal more than where it eventually went (Decrepit Birth, Faceless, Severed Savior), then this is for you. Does this sound like Death? Yes. Is that OK with me? Yes. They even have a tribute to the band on here (now that it is out of the way I hope they stick to original material). Good stuff and I'm interested to see what they do from here.