Style: Tech Death (mixed vocals)
Review by: Jonah
Country: France
Release date: 26 June, 2020
NOTE: This album was originally included in the June 2020 issue of The Progressive Subway
I reviewed Exocrine’s previous album back in 2018 and found it to be a relatively enjoyable, if somewhat uninspired release. If that were not the case I would absolutely not be reviewing their most recent album, as tech death is very far outside my normal wheelhouse, yet here we are, so let’s dive in to this smorgasbord of machine gun riffs and drumming and cacophonous vocals and see if I like what I find.
In a plot twist I never saw coming I actually…enjoy this quite a bit. The instrumentals feel suitably technical, moving forward at a lightspeed pace but never feeling like they sacrifice song structure. The vocal performance is all over the place, with a mixture of higher cleans, standard tech-death growls, and even some proper pig squeals and other more deathcore and slam death associated techniques. There are also some moments where things soften up and we find some nice pretty synth leads, or the occasional softer guitar section, that really serve to break up the insanity of the rest of the album. The drumming didn’t necessarily blow me away from a creativity standpoint, but the speed and skill are undeniable. The real standout moments on this album though, are when out of nowhere a damn trumpet comes in. Every single time they do it I just fall in love, it’s so damn strange and unexpected, and the drums blasting away, and the guitars pummeling with riffs, behind a trumpet lead is just an absolutely astonishing sonic experience. My biggest complaint about the instrumentation, in complete honesty, is that there wasn’t an absolute shit-load more of these moments, because I can’t get enough of them (as well as the 80s synths).
Unfortunately the area where this album falters heavily is the production. The mix initially appears clear enough, but the more I listened the more I noticed that the riffs can often sound muddy and stuck behind the vocals, but the entire final product just feels muffled and a bit too homogeneous in tone and volume. I think more clarity between the various instruments, and vocal sections, would have done wonders for the final product. Additionally there were certain riffs and vocal sections that felt like they were right on the verge of clipping, and just weren’t enjoyable at all.
This all being said, this is a really solid tech death album (from the perspective of someone who doesn’t really enjoy the genre) and honestly I think it’s worth a listen. It’s not necessarily groundbreaking, but there are moments that successfully caught me off guard, such as the John Carpenter-esque synths in “The Kraken”, or literally any time the trumpet happened, and I absolutely applaud the band for that. This is an interesting one, and I think with a stronger mix and even more of the more creative moments the band’s next album could be a real winner.
Recommended tracks: The Kraken, Wall of Water
Recommended for fans of: The Faceless, Nile, Obscura
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Unique Leader Records – Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook
Exocrine is:
– Jordy Besse (vocals, bass)
– Nicolas La Rosa (guitars)
– Sylvain Octor-Perez (guitars)
– Theo Gendron (drums)
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