Slave to the Sword

Exmortus is often labelled as a thrash or death metal band, but this description is not quite accurate from my point of view. The exceptional quartet from Whittier, California plays some really solid heavy and power metal with an epic atmosphere, gripping melodic guitar riffs, and extensive neoclassical solos and speedy buildups. Only the harsher vocals and a few crunchy riffs really call to mind thrash or melodic death metal influences. Their technically-appealing style sounds, in fact, like a mixture of Children Of Bodom, King Diamond, Megadeth, Stratovarius, and Testament. All in all, this is very intriguing and unique band in my eyes.

New album Slave To The Sword is the band’s most efficient and melodic release to date, and was already recorded and due to be released in early 2013 but for a chaotic label change that pushed the release back to early 2014. Right now, the band is touring extensively throughout North America to promote its third effort, and the Americans are a truly amazing and energizing live band – in comparison to many bands that kill it on stage but sound rather shallow on their records, or vice versa, Exmortus manages to transport their edgy live energy on this release.

The strong album kicks off with neoclassical shreds in the fast opener “Rising”. The rapid drumming, the wild bass guitar lines, and the straight guttural vocals add even more frenzy to the track before stunning twin guitar solos kick in for the bridge. I haven’t heard such a pitiless and powerful opener in quite a while. The best thing is that half of the songs on this release cut loose in just such a fashion, and the riffing throughout is absolutely merciless!

The more groove and thrash metal oriented “Slave To The Sword” shows us the band’s other face, and adds some variety to a potent album. The title song is a little bit darker, slower, and more rhythmic. Fans of bands such as Death Angel should absolutely dig this one, and the melodic side of power and thrash shown off by Exmortus is one of its real strong points. Most of the following tracks offer a balanced mixture between the two approaches in the opening duo. The band shows off its technical abilities as well in the outstanding cover of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata (Act III)”. Even Yngwie Malmsteen and Timo Tolkki would be green with envy if they heard this phenomenal instrumental track.

In the end, the band delivers us a fast paced, exhilarating ride around fifty minutes in length, with a sweating mixture of power and thrash metal. Exmortus manages to create a balanced mixture of pitiless solos and riffs that fly straight in your face, along with technically appealing structures. With lengths between three and a half and five and a half minutes, the band offers ten strong, compact tracks without any filler material, and delivers one of this year’s early highlights.

Originally written for Black Wind Metal

California's Exmortus was one of the first bands in the ongoing revival of the thrash metal subgenre, originally performing a death/thrash hybrid with heavy technical and melodic influences. This was encapsulated in their celebrated 2008 debut record In Hatred's Flame, but quickly after the group began growing out of the style. 2011's Beyond The Fall Of Time demonstrated a band in transition. Unfortunately, that transition was incomplete; the album sounded muddy, the songwriting was inferior to the previous record, and there seemed to be an awkward uncertainty if the band wanted to be death metal or thrash metal. But as the saying goes, third time's the charm.

Exmortus have finally found their sound on Slave to the Sword. Every song is a cut of ripping metal, the excellence evident from the first screaming notes of the intro to album opener Rising. The guitar work has been taken to an absolutely new level; awe-inspiring skill meets a broadened creativity, enabling the group's fretboard acrobatics to move from Yngwie Malmsteen worship to densely composed, highly focused and distinctly original shred-tastic metal. It also seems that the band has definitively decided to be a thrash metal band this time around; there is little brutality left of the debut record here, rather exchanging it for the power of high-speed riffing and shredding.

Vocals are rarely a focal point of music as shamelessly self-indulgent as this, but they're up-front and do their job well. If you loved the brutal growls on In Hatred's Flame, though, you'll be disappointed. The vocals are more of a harsh, raspy bark, perhaps comparable to those of Jeff Becerra of Possessed fame. The lyrical themes, conversely, have remained the same; fantasy-esque declarations of toughness, battle prowess and anything else you could rip out of a Conan comic book (amusingly also the stage name of frontman Jadran Gonzales).

The songwriting on Slave to the Sword is definitely the best that they've yet had. Many bands with virtuosic musicians oftentimes lose themselves in playing their instruments to where the structure of songs become messy and incoherent (a certain band with initials D.T. comes to mind). Thankfully, Exmortus always remains both shreddy and musically enjoyable as their songs blaze by at light-speed. There's also a strong catchiness throughout the record, perhaps best exemplified by the title track. The combination of the powerful and simple chorus and the wonderfully headbangable riff never ceases to deliver and keep you coming back for more constantly.

There are many wonderful moments on this record, but one of the highlights is the cover of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Act 3. The piece is transitioned almost perfectly into metal format and in a matter instantly recognizable as Exmortus. While sometimes classical covers can become another outlet for virtuosos to masturbate in people's ears, once again the band takes to it with flash and delivers delightful shredding and tapping runs. Other songs rich with leadwork are Warrior of the Night, Immortality Made Flesh, and closer Metal Is King.

So we've covered guitars and vocals, what about the rest of the band? Drumming doesn't really wow, but it delivers the goods. For the most part it maintains a steady and relentless beat, keeping the battling guitars in order. Bass provides some extra punchy rhythm and bounciness to the music, swimming under the wall of riffs and solos. All this is aided by the beautifully crystal-clear production, capturing every little nuance of every barked lyric, picked note, and cymbal crash, all coming together like a metallic orchestra.

In conclusion, Slave to the Sword easily assumes the title of Exmortus' best album yet and dramatically raises the bar for their next release. Having already received accolades from a number of metal journalism sites, it is virtually guaranteed to raise the band's profile and collect some new fans craving guitar worship. A couple more years of individual and musical growth is guaranteed to make Exmortus even better. Do yourself a favor. If you love any kind of technically complex thrash metal, this is a must-have.