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Epidemic > Exit Paradise > Reviews
Epidemic - Exit Paradise

Going Nowhere - 60%

Apovlitos, March 16th, 2019

Mid-tempo thrash is a precarious musical venture to pursue. If it does not work you can easily end up with uninteresting thrash metal. Slowing down in thrash metal is certainly nothing objectionable, but the mid-paced thrash endeavours of the 90s were to say the least disappointingly stale since they would go nowhere.

And this is how this record sounds sometimes … like it is going nowhere. From the first track we are introduced to almost two minutes of mostly unchanging mid-tempo riffage which to its credit it does manage to create a sort of doomy vibe. Only at 2m32sec the track intensifies with a really heavy passage before ending in the most flaccid way. The track does show great potential because the riffs are certainly crushing, but there is no real climax, no solo and in general it feels quite repetitive.

If there was any doubt that the record at some points just goes nowhere, look no further than the title track where the mid-tempo approach does not work at all. The intro seems to be stretched up to 1m46s and from there the band continues up to 2m42s in a sluggish tempo. Then there is an interval of about 43 seconds of random noises before the track resumes at around 3m25s where it seems that it is building up towards something exciting. You would think that the track would speed up and surprise you with a brutal passage, or anyway an idea that is unexpected. But disappointingly, it continues in the same manner, keeping the sluggish tempo just going nowhere until the end.

Epidemic’s insistence on a mid-tempo pace throughout this record evokes sometimes a heavy or doomy atmosphere which probably, reflects more accurately the record’s themes of hopelessness and despair. Be that as it may, but in reality the mid-tempo pace is overused and it can sometimes come across as tedious undermining much of Epidemic’s dynamic playing. Like Void and the title track, half of Everlasting Lie plods away favouring repetition and marginalising great ideas like that very short but great passage at 3min43sec which concludes the track. All three of these tracks offer a glimpse of great potential but unfortunately, they are dragged down by mid-tempo pace.

Where the mid-tempo does somewhat work, is on To Escape the Void which is a slow and quite repetitive track but unlike the three aimless tracks discussed above, this is not necessarily bad because the driving riff is very good and it holds the listener’s interest. From around 1min53sec the track is supported by a melodic guitar passage which is very atmospheric as it kind of evokes an isolating distance and lamentation. Of course, the track is unnecessarily longer and it could have simply ended for instance at 2min30sec with the end of that really interesting melodic guitar passage. It is understandable that this is the outro of the record so it was going to be some sort of repetitive quasi-instrumental track. However, it also serves as a reminder that sometimes the record is anti-climactic and some of the ideas usually with regard to the slower parts of the record do not work.

Mid-tempo metal generally speaking is a matter of proper song arrangement in my opinion. With a simple yet effective structure, the best track on the record is Institution of Ignorance. It plays at a steady rhythm but releases more power as it goes. The track wastes no time in taking the first two verses to their climax at 1m05s and 1m26s respectively, and swiftly moves on to a brutal middle part which is connected to the last section with a passage dominated by the bass. The fastest tracks on the record are probably Lament and Section 13, both quite furious tracks with very dense riffage which exhibit the record’s death metal direction. Deaden and Written in Blood should be definitely noted for their very powerful openings but at a certain point they shift to those slower tempos that leave you uninterested. So in essence, whenever Epidemic refrains from lengthy directionless passages, and maintains succinctness and substance, they manage to sound amazing on this record even when they are not particularly fast.

The record has definitely a more death/thrash sound owing mostly to the vocals which are now straightforward growling. Fulli is a great vocalist and has been a consistently solid performer throughout the band’s short body of work. Interestingly, given the direction the record took, it is unexpectedly less abrasive than its predecessor. This is because the record is more structured due to its prevalent mid tempo pace and there are also a lot of riffs that I can only describe as sounding “chugging” or “bouncy” (descriptions that I hate to use but do not know otherwise). These riffs are more prominent to me on Vulture and Deaden, and Written in Blood even has a section at 2m12s that actually reminds me of something that Gojira would compose. This leave me with the impression that the band with this record moved in a way closer to a more contemporary sound but fortunately for the most part they managed to stay clear from any of the undesirables influences and trends of the 90's.

The major issue of Exit Paradise is the crippling tempo of half of the record which I believe deprives it of excitement and drains its energy. Despite all my negativity about the mid tempo pace, there are some brilliant moments which certainly deserve an audience. All in all it is the band’s weakest record, but it was a decent enough last effort that I find it does not justify the unceremonious demise of the band.

The fall of Epidemic - 55%

Sanguine_Censure, April 28th, 2005

To put it simply, Exit Paradise was the album that never lived up to its potential. The abrupt departure of the more competent guitarist Guy Higbey just weeks before recording began saddled the depressingly average Erik Moggridge with the whole of the guitar duties, and the album suffered greatly from the lack of a good soloist.

Of course, if that were the extent of Epidemic's problems, the band probably would have survived this album, but nothing is ever quite that simple. The desire to take the band's style in a more death-metal direction, after the success of their past thrash albums ("success" being a relative term for a metal band in the heyday of grunge) doomed Exit Paradise to an inconsistent sound with some jarringly abrupt ends to songs.

From the opener "Void," the absence of Higbey is evident as Moggridge struggles through the solo, and on the second track "Vulture," he again bows to Slayer's Kerry King by missing several notes by a full octave during a very uninspired lead. From that point, the album actually improves somewhat, though it becomes apparent Moggridge is having great problems playing for two, as is made excruciatingly clear on the hidden cover of Ozzy's "Over the Mountain," minutes into the silence at the end of "To Escape the Void." Vocalist Carl Fulli shifts from his traditional roar to a sometimes-painful death/black growl that still manages to add some desperately needed life to flat guitar lines. Bassist Mark Bodine shines as always, and his playing keeps Exit Paradise from being a complete wash.

Epidemic's demise could be blamed on any number of problems, but the failed experiment in death metal would have gone much better if Higbey had still been present.

Too Much Death, Not Enough Thrash - 65%

PowerProg_Adam, April 10th, 2003

This is probably on the lower spectrum of the death metal albums I've heard. Most of the songs tend to be competently played, although they are not extreme mastery on any of the instruments.

It is kind of rare to see a signed band who has a guitar player that sounds like he is only a beginner, there are only a few attempts to solo, which are rather sloppy. The guitar tone sounds rather powerful, but most of the riffs sound very similar throughout the album, very distorted, but not very memorable at all. There are very few memorable riffs if any.

The vocals are sub-par even for a death metal band. His voice is similar to that of Chris Barnes at times, only more coherent. The vocalist reminds me of a more skilled version of the vocalist of Vio-lence. In fact, if Vio-lence were a death metal band, they'd sound alot like Epidemic, minus the catchy riffage.

One would think that their cover of Over the Mountain would be at least remotely enjoyable, but not really, its probably the worst song on the album. The drum work is handled quite competently, but what infuriates me is that when the song breaks down to where their is supposed to me a screeching guitar solo, Epidemic butchers it beyond belief, but then again not everyone could nail it like Randy Rhoads though.

I wouldn't call this uninspiring, but I would call it mediocre at very best. It sounds like many of the unsigned death metal bands around the world and doesn't really offer much new to the table.

Somebody somewhere probably thinks this is the most groundbreaking death metal album ever, and if you do, just email me, and I'd be happy to give it to you, because it doesn't quite match my taste.