The American band Exhorder has in many ways never received the full recognition they deserve in music history. Exhorder was actually the first band that could be called groove metal – before Pantera – before Machine Head – before White Zombie. Phil Anselmo is actually from New Orleans, where Exhorder is from, and was a big fan of them. Anselmo has said several times that he was inspired by the band and led Pantera in the same direction as Exhorder. Admittedly, Exhorder’s debut album, “Slaughter In The Vatican,” from 1990, was more classic thrash metal. But the sound is definitely heading towards groove metal, and considering that the album was already written in 1987, they were ahead of their time. With “The Law” in 1992, Exhorder plays pure groove metal. But not long after, it was the end for Exhorder, and the guitars were put on the shelf as early as 1994. There were some small comeback attempts in 2003 and 2008, but it wasn’t until 2019 that the band released new music. “Mourn The Southern Skies” marked a solid comeback for the band, and the album was well received. Now comes the follow-up, “Defectum Omnium”, and the band stays in the same vein as its predecessor. The album sounds groovy and thrashes well. In addition, it is well produced, and there is nothing to fault in the band’s playing skills, despite many line-up changes. Only vocalist Kyle Thomas remains from the original lineup. It is especially surprising that guitarist Vinnie LaBella has left the band after so many years. Equally surprising is that the new guitarist is Pat O’Brien, former member of Cannibal Corpse. Yes, the same Pat O’Brien who made headlines in 2018 after being arrested for setting fire to the house he rented and running around the neighborhood heavily armed. But enough about that; the new album by Exhorder is well executed and contains good songs worth checking out.
Release March 8th, 2024 on Nuclear Blast.
About The Author
