The Raging Tides

I've never had the same level of cult appreciation for Exumer as some other thrash heads. To me they were on the level of a group like Assassin, or Necronomicon, who put out one solid 80s album before an inconsistent sophomore, then quickly faded into obscurity rather than aligning with the Teutonic masters in the field. Of course, just about every damn one of those B or C-list groups have now reformed, with varying results...hell, even S.D.I. just recently put out a new record. Exumer has gotten some praise for not only putting together some competent material for their 21st century run, but managing to improve themselves in the process. I can't say that for the band's proper reunion record, Fire & Damnation, but I can see why the group's fourth record, The Raging Tides, turned some heads before it commenced banging them, because if nothing else, it's about as consistently 80s as you could wish for.

Now, don't take that as a glaring recommendation, because I still find the band's style a little generic and indistinct when there are so many other options, but unlike some bands...say Onslaught, who took on a pretty heavily 90s influenced thrash aesthetic via Pissing Razors or Pantera, Exumer has dropped an effort here that would have fit right in after Rising from the Sea and blown that disc to barnacles...err smithereens. This is unrelenting, energetic, full of choppy Bay Area style riffing and never scums out into some Lolapalooza mosh groove for dudes with bad tribalz. Granted, there's not a single damn new or interesting thing going on in the riffing department, but the tone is decent, and the riffs are at least hooky enough that you won't complain about them sucking, with a balance between more frenetic, tremolo picked passages and beloved, mid-paced Exodus meatheadedness. The leads are all well-placed, if frivolous, and the drums have a nice snap to them that kicks you along. You could probably cut and paste this stuff onto any number of other recent thrash albums that are informed by the members' 80s record collections, and then swap those albums' riffs onto this without skipping a beat, but hey, it functions.

Vocally they still remind me a lot of a mashup between other bands like Tankard and Vendetta, but the vocals are actually really well produced, as are the backing gang shouts. The lyrics read as if they could have been written for any decade, timeless and not terribly topical. I also thought the cover art was cool, they gotta stick with their mascot in total 80s thrash fashion, so you've got this Jason Voorhees looking dude representing on what looks like an old illustrated horror poster, bursting from the logo, with some extra skulls, fire and...nooses to fill up that negative space. They also include a pair of covers that are weird...the doomier "Forever My Queen" from Pentagram, which they mange to thrashen up a little with a nice lead. They also really amplify their cover of Grip Inc.'s "Hostage to Heaven" and make it sound more fiery with some gnarly vocals that often border on Exodus sneer. This was one of my fave tracks on the disc, along with some originals like "Death Factory" and "There Will Always Be Blood", and it really fits in with their own material. A decent offering here, if not outstanding, a slight improvement over Fire & Damnation, which wasn't so bad itself.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Come on dudes, you're kidding. The cover song of Grip Inc.'s ingenious classic "Hostage to Heaven" - inter alia with a guest appearance of Waldemar Sorychta, the composer and original guitarist of Grip Inc. - does not sound like an "exumerized" version but like the original tune with unexplainable minor flaws. Does it make sense? Definitely not. It just shows that even a good singer like Mem cannot hold a candle to the performance of Gus Chambers, the charismatic guy with the mohawk haircut who stole the metal community a fantastic lead vocalist by committing suicide. To change a well known phrase of the Scorpions: Still missing you. However, this review is not about Gus. Of course, the fourth album of the semi-legendary Exumer is the matter.

The aforementioned cover tune is one of two bonus tracks and both songs are, to be honest, of minor importance. Allow me to exclude them from the evaluation. What counts are the ten new songs that Exumer have written. Some open-minded dudes will criticise that the group hates innovation and delivers only pure old-school. I say: this is the only school. (You call me an old ignorant bastard? My wife agrees.) High velocity marries lacerating riffs. The recipe is pretty simple, but the impact should not be underestimated. Large parts of the album are close to perfection, although the title track seems to be derived from Sepultura's "Arise". But that's no cardinal sin. More interesting is that Exumer like high speed sections, but they also do not shy away from songs which are based on mid-paced rhythms. "Shadow Walker" is an excellent example for this kind of approach. The bone-dry riffing reveals a merciless stringency and the decision against high speed does not affect the brusqueness of the number. Perhaps it sounds cynical, but it makes me happy that this band is always angry. Due to the emotional state of the guys, it is only logical that the abrasive "Catatonic" heralds the power of well constructed mid-tempo tunes as well. An almost painfully simple riff and a precise chorus complement each other very well. Nevertheless, "Shadow Walker" is the slightly stronger mid-tempo assault.

Multi-talent Waldemar Sorychta has produced the album. Do I really need to say more? A merciless transparency meets cold brutality. As mentioned above, many songs are close to perfection, but the godlike production is definitely immaculate. It expresses the uncompromising ferocity of the ingenious sub genre and bears the unmistakable signature of its maker. The result is that Mem's powerful voice has plenty of room to develop its full force and the same goes for each and every instrument. Needless to add that the guitars leave the most sustainable impression.

I was speaking about Sorychta's signature, but Exumer's dynamic tracks are also very typical. The vigorous band relies on its well-known song-writing formula. For example, the excellent "Sinister Souls", a mind-blowing thrash explosion, has a discreet touch of "Xiron Darkstar", one of the best pieces of their debut. The straight "Brand of Evil" with its rasping guitars and the effective chorus takes no prisoners and "Welcome to Hellfire" presents a clever tribute to Slayer after the "Decimating all in sight"-part. All these songs have in common that they are driven by the restlessly beaten drums and the list of extremely convincing speedsters could go on. Believe me, "There Will Always Be Blood", to name just one further example, possesses brilliant riffs, too. However, the crucial thing is that Exumer still have the necessary degree of conviction to present furious thrashers which endanger the listener's neck musculature. With regard to the careers of many comparable formations, this is unfortunately not a matter of course. Anyway, it feels good to listen to this detonation of thrash that avoids the use of keyboards, acoustic guitars and any other useless instruments.

"The Raging Tides" provides evidence that the initial wave of German thrash metal has not yet ebbed away. Exumer in their present form convey the spirit of the metallic mid-eighties that was based on enthusiasm, pioneering spirit and purity. I am talking about the glorious years before the role models had a lot of "good ideas" that followed the changing perspective of the eternal cocksucker called zeitgeist. You surely know this kind of ideas. Their execution resulted in lukewarm albums which did absolutely not work. It is not necessary to mention names in this context. I bet that even the guys of Flotsam & Jetsam share my point of view.

If 2015 was a great year for thrash then 2016 is shaping up to be an absolute monster!

Exumer’s follow up to their excellent 2012 effort Fire And Damnation (not discounting their fearsome 80’s output of course) is a violent, speed-obsessed lesson in how shockingly effective Teutonic thrash can truly be.

Tighter than Scrooge’s wallet at Christmas, Exumer have never sounded this charged, this focused and so capable of thrashing our tits clean off. Revealing itself to be an album that’s thrillingly nothing more than a straight-up blast of classic thrash – fortified with whip-crack rhythms and an intense focus on all out raging attack – Exumer toy with tempo on occasion but emphasise simplified Exodus-like battery for the most part.

Deeply rooted in Germany’s thrash foundations but also acknowledging the bay area’s unparalleled contribution, Exumer even cheekily tip their hat to classic Sepultura with the opening riff of “The Raging Tides” uncannily recalling the Sep’s “Arise“. Not that this is a problem. In fact, it all contributes to giving the album that ‘classic’ sound; warped in from the late ’80’s/early ’90’s to remind us all how ridiculously satisfying this kind of thrash will always be.

“Catatonic” pummels proficiently – Steve “Zetro” Souza vocal patterns bouncing around some steady mid-paced Slayer riffing – culminating in a gloriously simple, head-banging experience. It’s highly addictive and showcases Exumer’s knack for writing the most criminally effective thrash songs we’ve heard in an age.

Ever more frantic rhythms jostle with perfectly pitched solo’s on each and every track, The Raging Tides maintaining a furious pace throughout and once the balls-out crunch of album closer “Death Factory” has stomped you into submission you’ll be gasping for breath.

There’s no turning back this raging tide, Exumer have stormed the beaches with an utterly essential thrash purchase; raging indeed!

Originally published on worshipmetal.com

Making it to album number four and their second post-reunion record, German thrashers Exumer continue to expand upon their strong run of releases as this is as tight and focused as the band has sounded in ages. As is to be expected here, the album is simply a straightforward blast of old-school inspired thrash that whips and zips through tight, intense collections of rhythms without much deviation throughout here and in turn making this tight, frantic and utterly raging throughout here. With most of the tracks kept in the up-tempo realm, this becomes densely-packed full of great speed-metal styled rhythms that are full of biting, intense energy that keeps on adding to the furious assault throughout here. Loaded with dynamic riffing and explosive soloing merely completes the full-on thrash assault on display with the guitar-work, as this style of US-based thrash was always their forte which is continued here in strong fashion with the otherwise frantic drumming and front-loaded vocal lashings that simply add to the old-school atmosphere and charm. It may be simple-man’s thrash without much change-up throughout here, but otherwise it’s the only issue holding this one back.

The first half here marks this as a strong overall effort. The title track opens with a furious round of tight, blistering up-tempo riffing and pounding drumming racing through the frantic tempos with a straightforward intensity offset with melodic flurries leading into the fiery solo section as the charging rhythms continue on through the final half for an explosive opening effort. The raging ‘Brand of Evil’ features thumping drum-work and a raging up-tempo riff churning through the speed metal rhythms as the frenetic patterns and the full-throttle pacing keep this one continually charging forward into the up-tempo rhythms as the stylish soloing leads into the tightly-wound finale for yet another furious thrasher.
‘Catatonic’ utilizes tight, frantic riffing and a steady, bouncy pace throughout the mid-tempo crunch featured throughout the main rhythm with a more intense series of riffing alongside pummeling drum-beats with the steady rhythm keeping this one along throughout the final half for an enjoyable and simplified take on their style. ‘Sacred Defense’ goes for a simplified, intense riff and pounding drum-work throughout with the more melodic down-tempo changes allow the more furious main riff to feature engaging energy that leads through the brief solo section that allows the stronger intense riffing to continue through the finale for a fine, rousing thrasher. ‘Welcome to Hellfire’ features double-barrel riffing and a rather straightforward, simplistic riff as the pounding drumming brings the intense energy throughout the first half with a fine shift into tighter, more frantic rhythms and a more melodic sprawling chug into the solo section before bringing the furious energy back into the raging final half for an overall enjoyable effort.

The second half here is pretty much along the lines of the first half. ‘Sinister Souls’ opens with blistering riffing and furious pounding drumming racing through tight, frantic paces with plenty of frenetic rhythms raging throughout the speed-drenched patterns that offer a decent melodic break into the raging, full-throttle solo section with the tight riffing continuing into the finale for one of the album’s overall highlight tracks. ‘Shadow Walker’ slowly builds from faded guitar intros into a strong mid-tempo crunch with pounding drumming keeping the energy going along into the steady main rhythm with simple, restrained riffing keeping this going along rather nicely into the solo section with the steady rhythms coming along into the final half for a rather enjoyable effort. ‘There Will Always Be Blood’ charges along at a steady up-tempo gallop with plenty of furious riffing throughout while being augmented by the more restrained drumming blasts and the occasional melodic flurry holding off the charging tempos as the frantic solo section carries this along into the full-throttle finale for another solid, enjoyable effort. The solid ‘Dark Reflections’ utilizes a stylish mid-tempo charge with strong riffing alongside pounding drumming throughout here that keeps this one running along rather frantic mid-tempo ventures with the speed metal rhythms along into the blistering solo section with the fiery melodies continuing into the final half making for a rather fun mid-tempo effort. Normal album closer ‘Death Factory’ uses tight furious riff-work and rather frenetic drumming alongside the steady, streamlined pace with the intense rhythms continuing to take the raging patterns along throughout the tight paces with the urgent finale giving this a solid finishing statement.

The last part here is a couple of bonus cover tracks for the special edition versions, and are what to be expected from other tracks not on every main release. The first cover here for Pentagram’s ‘Forever My Queen’ which is highly problematic with the slow, droning pace conflicting wildly with their intense, speed-drenched original works with the riffing keeping this one somewhat enjoyable as there’s some solid patterns in the solo section but overall doesn’t really sound much like the band at all. Their Grip Inc. cover of ‘Hostage to Heaven’ is much better with a more furious tempo and pounding rhythms throughout here making this one far more up-tempo and ripping but also manages to stick out with the use of lighter guitar-work that isn’t as tight and ends up much more technical than their more usual works. While this is a special bonus for fans it certainly sticks out as a whole.

Overall, this here is a ripping and engaging thrash effort that comes from one of the most undervalued and underappreciated efforts in the scene and hopefully this ripping release changes that as that’s two strong releases in a row for the group proving their comeback wasn’t a fluke at all and making this a solid, essential choice for Teutonic thrash aficionados or old-school thrash in general.