Released by Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: September 20th, 2019
Genre: Thrash Metal
Line Up:
Kyle Thomas – Vocals
Vinnie LaBella – Guitars
Marzi Montazeri – Guitars
Jason Viebrooks – Bass
Sasha Horn – Drums
Tracklist:
1. My Time
2. Asunder
3. Hallowed Sound
4. Beware The Wolf
5. Yesterday’s Bones
6. All She Wrote
7. Rumination
8. Arms Of Man
9. Ripping Flesh
10. Mourn The Southern Skies
This year has reserved many surprising comebacks in discography and one of them is the return of the thrash metal band Exhorder, twenty-seven years after their latest studio release “The Law”. Nuclear Blast Records presents “Mourn The Southern Skies”, a new offering by a band that back in the eighties has offered some great thrash metal moments, but it belongs to the wave of the acts that didn’t get the necessary attention for major success at that time. Exhorder has released some good quality and creative material in the past, but this wasn’t enough for them to get the achievements they deserved, according to fans and critics.
This new offering could be considered as an attempt to get more visibility than they did almost thirty years ago. Conquering the place they deserve in music business will not be easy for sure and this consideration has nothing to do with the quality of the new material or the production, which are beyond any expectations: the fact is that the sound has remained loyal to the old school thrash metal style of the eighties, which seems to be less appreciated nowadays.
“Mourn The Southern Skies” includes songs like “My Time”, “Beware The Wolf” or “Ripping Flesh”, some very good compositions indeed, but still there seem not to move apart from the usual, classic sound of their early years. At this point, the listener might wonder why this album could make the difference since releasing a bunch of common tracks would not give an extraordinary character to it. Undoubtedly, a band that has already conquered the throne of success and has a huge amount of loyal followers could give birth to some less thrilling material at some point. In this case, though, there should be something more, some outstanding tracks that could drag the fans’ attention to a comeback of a band after three decades of inactivity.
In fact, there are some tunes like “Yesterday’s Bones”, “Arms Of Man” and “Asunder”, which could make a difference: solid, impressive compositions that could take the album to the next level and provide some really entertaining moments to the crowd. “Rumination”, “Hallowed Sound” and “Rumination” could have a great impact, even though this old fashioned kind of thrash metal is not able to attract a major number of fans. The final song of the album is the long-lasting title track, a piece of major expression of the abilities of the members of the band.
In conclusion, the comeback of Exhorder in discography could be defined as a solid, good quality piece of old school raw thrash metal music, still, the band’s proposal to the crowd shows no changes in relation to their older material. Even though there are no elements of innovation or acquisition of a more contemporary style, “Mourn The Southern Skies” will absolutely please the demands of their followers since day one. Still, approaching a bigger or younger audience will not be an easy job without following the path of evolution.
Ratings: 7/10
Written by: Katerina Paisoglou
My Global Mind – Staff Writer