Exhumed — Necrocracy

In 2010 metal fans had a reason to be cheerful, when it was announced that ‘Exhumed’ were going to reform after a long hiatus. Exhumed is a death metal band from California. They originally formed in 1990. Their early albums were heavily influenced by bands like ‘Carcass’ with gory lyrics full of medical jargon and a ‘muddy’ sound that has since been termed ‘deathgrind’ (or goregrind). There is a great compilation of their early material called ‘Platters Of Splatter’ on Relapse, which is highly recommended!

Exhumed was never a band to rest on their laurels. As time went by their sound evolved and by the time their 2003 album ‘Anatomy Is Destiny’ was released they had become a tech-death band. So in 2010, when they announced their reformation, fans wondered what version of the band we would be presented with.

Their comeback album ‘All Guts, No Glory’ was a return to the sound of old. It was a great ‘deathgrind’ album that left the fans thirsting (like a horde of ravenous zombies!) for more.

So fast forward to 2013, and you have ‘Necrocracy’, and Exhumed have done it again. This time, they have recorded a ‘melodic’ death metal album (one track even includes an acoustic interlude!). You have nine catchy slices of death metal (14 on the deluxe edition), that will get your foot tapping and your head banging.

The album benefits from a stellar production job. The playing is clean, and you can hear clear separation between all the instruments (not the muffled blur that blights many modern death metal records). The vocals are a nasty (yet catchy!) growl. There is not much variation, as they largely stay in the mid-range, but they complement the music perfectly.

The lyrics are gory, but amusing. Exhumed clearly have their tongues firmly in their rotten cheeks, and this makes the album all the more enjoyable because of it. In short, they have made an album that is catchy, melodic and fun. I think the fans will really enjoy it, I certainly did!