vote
7.0
- Bands:
EXILED ON EARTH - Duration: 00:42:04
- Available from: 05/31/2024
- Label:
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Punishment 18 Records
An almost thirty-year history, that of Exiled On Earth, if we also take into consideration the previous incarnation as Maelstrom. A long and not perfectly linear story, considering that “Vertenebra” is only the fourth album of his career.
The last few years have certainly been the most productive ones, with the release of the full-length “Non Euclidean” in 2020 and the EP “The Onyx Path” in 2022; so here we are at this fourth album, to admire a lineup that proves competent and versatile in a genre, that of progressive thrash, which in recent years has shown signs of a certain expansion, placing young players alongside veterans of the sector.
Exiled On Earth have so far traveled quite under the radar, without gaining who knows what attention or hype, but it is clear from the first bars of “Revived Entity” that there are good numbers to support their exploits. It is perceived that the stylistic points of reference are those of the more technical and sharp extreme metal of the late 80s and early 90s, with more thrash bands such as Coroner, Annihilator, Voivod alongside Death, Sadus, Pestilence, Nocturnus in the youthful loves of musicians.
As the cover can already suggest, we find ourselves immersed in a dark climate with a science fiction flavour, with an interpretation of these atmospheres which recalls, in this case too, the somewhat arcane and unhealthy one of the death metal publications of (at least) thirty years ago. The band moves agile and surgical, without getting lost in frills, through sharp riffing that mediates between more brazen assaults and reasoned average tempos, also making use of ingenious and non-linear bass scores.
The type of production may recall that of albums like “Symbolic” by Death, a bit halfway between death metal and the modern thrash of the times, with compressed sounds and drums and bass that sound a bit ‘detached’ from the guitars: a solution that seems to us to be well suited to the gloom of the band, good at insisting on a murky and malevolent climate, punctually broken by more open and melodic solo guitar interventions.
These contrasts between harshness and relative sweetness are the most important element of the tracks, which courageously go in a non-linear narrative direction, allowing few easy-to-grasp refrains and moments of easy transport. A very harsh main voice contributes to this, perhaps not always in tune and in step with the brushwork of the instruments: vocal roughness and lack of memorable melodic hooks probably limit the audience to which the album is addressed, while on the other hand it enhances a discourse personal artistic and well supported by the songwriting and instrumental skills of the quartet.
In this cryptic and very non-linear unfolding, we prefer the moments where the melody emerges with greater brilliance, as in the epic and clean second voices of the second part of “The Dying Sun Of Sarnath”, or in “Through The Skeletal Fog”, where the refrain opens up to light and harmonious nuances. On other occasions we would feel the need for some jolts, some changes in speed that would give a bit of adrenaline, while the group prefers to move in a more staid and contorted way.
Even with some (slight) reservations dictated by some somewhat cumbersome passages, “Vertenebra” is a album of value, of character, which certainly deserves more than one listen by fans of technical and cerebral thrash-death, with an eye with respect to tradition.
