Exmortus - Legions Of The Undead
Just one year after releasing their latest full length album "The Sound Of Steel", Exmortus from California present us their brand new EP entitled "Legions Of The Undead". The EP expands to almost 17 minutes.
Exmortus recorded 2 brand new songs (the same-titled 'Legions Of The Undead' and 'Swallow Your Soul'). Both songs follow the band's nightmarish/horror approach for technical melodic heavy/thrash metal. Both songs also feature excellent lead guitars that remind of the Glenn Tipton / K.K. Downing classic Judas Priest guitar duo. The riffing is epic/heavy with a thrash feeling in the way Judas Priest "Painkiller" was and it features many chromatic guitar phrases/leads through the songs. The tremolo when used in the solos sounds very nice. The Exmortus riffs are basically mid tempo and very heavy. Jadran "Conan" Gonzalez vocals are delivered in a brutal way maintaining their thrash origin. The rhythm section serves its role in an excellent way. The bass is bright and the drums performance is full of fantasy with many rhythmical changes. The production is bright with the vocals and lead guitars a bit higher in the final mix, but still everything can be perfectly heard.
After the 2 brand new original songs, the "Legions of the Undead" EP continues in a rather surprising way with 3 instrumental tracks which further unfold and highlight the technical skills of the band and uncover their non-metal influences.
First of all, 'Beetlejuice', which is a Danny Elfman cover. The original appears on the same titled "Beetlejuice" film (1988) starring Michael Keaton. For those unfamiliar with this film, the soundtrack was similar to Tim Burton's famous animated musical "Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993). In fact both scores belong to Danny Elfman. The Exmortus version is a mixture of creative and shredding lead guitar work close to power metal/neoclassical in the way Yngwie Malmsteen has performed it.
Up next is the 'Psycho Theme' cover. 'Psycho Theme' is a classic soundtrack piece composed by the Academy Award-winner, American composer and conductor Bernard Hermann, used on the movie "Psycho" (1960). "Psycho" was an American psychological horror film directed and produced by the legendary film director and producer Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins fame among a series of excellent actors/actresses. Keeping all the necessary tension of the horror film theme, Exmortus build their own haunting and creepy power/thrash version which is surprisingly exciting and additionally serves as a reminder of how great and of how much ahead of their time were the coefficients of "Psycho"!
'Night On Bald Mountain' (also known as 'Night On The Bare Mountain') cover closes the chapter of this instrumental trilogy and the "Legions Of The Undead" EP. All the structural elements of this classical piece (or "musical picture" as he used to call it) the famous Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839ñ1881) composed are present. With power deriving from their excellent musicianship, music education and advanced technical skills Exmortus underline the relevance of classical music and metal.
"Legions Of The Undead" is a pleasant EP that you will enjoy. It fully serves its role to fill the gap between 2 band's full length albums in the best possible way. The whole EP flows really easy and is an excellent listening experience. In its 2 Exmortus original new songs you get to listen to how their next full length album could possibly sound, and in its 2 O.S.T./film score and 1 classical music covers you get to listen to the band brilliantly performing some of their non-metal influences/favorites showing their undoubted talent. Exmortus is currently on tour supporting Death Angel. So, if they have a live date scheduled somewhere close to your area, don't lose your chance to catch them live. In the meantime, you will fully enjoy their EP in anticipation for their next attack.
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Exmortus recorded 2 brand new songs (the same-titled 'Legions Of The Undead' and 'Swallow Your Soul'). Both songs follow the band's nightmarish/horror approach for technical melodic heavy/thrash metal. Both songs also feature excellent lead guitars that remind of the Glenn Tipton / K.K. Downing classic Judas Priest guitar duo. The riffing is epic/heavy with a thrash feeling in the way Judas Priest "Painkiller" was and it features many chromatic guitar phrases/leads through the songs. The tremolo when used in the solos sounds very nice. The Exmortus riffs are basically mid tempo and very heavy. Jadran "Conan" Gonzalez vocals are delivered in a brutal way maintaining their thrash origin. The rhythm section serves its role in an excellent way. The bass is bright and the drums performance is full of fantasy with many rhythmical changes. The production is bright with the vocals and lead guitars a bit higher in the final mix, but still everything can be perfectly heard.
After the 2 brand new original songs, the "Legions of the Undead" EP continues in a rather surprising way with 3 instrumental tracks which further unfold and highlight the technical skills of the band and uncover their non-metal influences.
First of all, 'Beetlejuice', which is a Danny Elfman cover. The original appears on the same titled "Beetlejuice" film (1988) starring Michael Keaton. For those unfamiliar with this film, the soundtrack was similar to Tim Burton's famous animated musical "Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993). In fact both scores belong to Danny Elfman. The Exmortus version is a mixture of creative and shredding lead guitar work close to power metal/neoclassical in the way Yngwie Malmsteen has performed it.
Up next is the 'Psycho Theme' cover. 'Psycho Theme' is a classic soundtrack piece composed by the Academy Award-winner, American composer and conductor Bernard Hermann, used on the movie "Psycho" (1960). "Psycho" was an American psychological horror film directed and produced by the legendary film director and producer Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins fame among a series of excellent actors/actresses. Keeping all the necessary tension of the horror film theme, Exmortus build their own haunting and creepy power/thrash version which is surprisingly exciting and additionally serves as a reminder of how great and of how much ahead of their time were the coefficients of "Psycho"!
'Night On Bald Mountain' (also known as 'Night On The Bare Mountain') cover closes the chapter of this instrumental trilogy and the "Legions Of The Undead" EP. All the structural elements of this classical piece (or "musical picture" as he used to call it) the famous Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839ñ1881) composed are present. With power deriving from their excellent musicianship, music education and advanced technical skills Exmortus underline the relevance of classical music and metal.
"Legions Of The Undead" is a pleasant EP that you will enjoy. It fully serves its role to fill the gap between 2 band's full length albums in the best possible way. The whole EP flows really easy and is an excellent listening experience. In its 2 Exmortus original new songs you get to listen to how their next full length album could possibly sound, and in its 2 O.S.T./film score and 1 classical music covers you get to listen to the band brilliantly performing some of their non-metal influences/favorites showing their undoubted talent. Exmortus is currently on tour supporting Death Angel. So, if they have a live date scheduled somewhere close to your area, don't lose your chance to catch them live. In the meantime, you will fully enjoy their EP in anticipation for their next attack.
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1. Legions Of The Undead
2. Swallow Your Soul
3. Beetlejuice (cover Danny Elfman)
4. Psycho Theme (cover Bernard Hermann)
5. Night On Bald Mountain (cover Modest Mussorgsky)
2. Swallow Your Soul
3. Beetlejuice (cover Danny Elfman)
4. Psycho Theme (cover Bernard Hermann)
5. Night On Bald Mountain (cover Modest Mussorgsky)
Reviewer: Manos Michaelides
Nov 21, 2019
Nov 21, 2019
Next review:
Feeble Minded - Collapsing Existence
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