Exmortus - Ride Forth (2016)

  Cost: $2.00

I'd been patiently stalking this one for about a year until they moved it from the regular priced used discs to the bargain bin. Sadly, it did have a small but nasty scrape mark on the bottom of the disc that I was worried would make it skip, but fortunately it doesn't seem to affect the playing.

Exmortus have never been particularly to my taste, but I can appreciate the use of neoclassical arrangments in something heavier than power metal or shred. As far as the more technical forms of metal go, the neoclassical influences seem like a more natural fit with the metal guitarwork then most of the bands that draw their technicality from prog. rock or jazz sources. They've toned down the death metal influences a lot from the first album, which probably serves the intricate guitarwork better, but they also seem very bound to it. The full-on classically influenced stuff is engaging, and there's quite a lot of it here. The more standard thrash parts are underwhelming, and some of the less inspired riffs feel like unspectacular melodeath.

Never been a fan of Exmortus' vocals, whether they're Baldan's on the debut album or Jadran's since. I obviously have no problem with extreme metal vocals, so I think a large part of this is the way a lot of the lyrics are broken down by syllable and the resulting cadence. Here, they mostly feel like black metal vocals, with the growlier parts being slightly reminiscent of a more monotonous Akhenaten of Judas Iscariot. I also get slight Jeff Walker vibes a few times (but nowhere as good).

Also cool to see that Exmortus has had the honor of getting 3 of the best newer Phil Lawvere covers (Probably my favorite album cover artist ever. The Hirax cover art he did is also great, but seems like a poor fit with the band--wish it had gone to someone else. The Minotaur EP cover is dorky, and the Nocturnal album is basically a mild tribute to Endless Pain with two Kreator demo guys stuck in the back).

Pretty decent stuff, and I appreciate that they're trying to inject the neoclassical elements into the music with a purpose rather than just making kitchen sink metal to be quirky.