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Exhumed make up for lost time by going straight to the juggular.-
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| Exhumed: All Guts, No Glory |
Death Metal, Grindcore
Relapse Records
July 5th, 2011
- All Guts, No Glory - 1:51
- As Hammer to Anvil - 3:44
- Your Funeral, My Feast - 3:32
- Through Cadaver Eyes - 4:15
- Death Knell - 3:54
- Distorted and Twisted to Form - 2:45
- I Rot Within - 3;51
- Dis-assembly Line - 3:05
- Necrotized - 3:25
- Funereality - 3:06
- So Let it be Rotten... So Let it be Done - 3:18
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| Review Information |
Release length: 36:47
Review posted on July 3rd, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 9.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Goregasm (1992) • Gore Metal (1998) • Slaughtercult (2000) • Anatomy is Destiny (2003)
Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated (2005) • All Guts, No Glory (2011)
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| EP(s): |
Excreting Innards (1992)
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| Split(s): |
Exhumed/Haemorrhage (1995) • In the Name of Gore (1996) • Blood and Alcohol (1996) • Chords of Chaos (1997)
Exhumed/No Comply (1997) • Pray for War/Tales of the Exhumed (1998) • Indignities to the Dead/Lujuria de Chivo (1998)
Totally Fucking Dead/Sterility (1998) • Recordings 2000 (2000) • Exhumed/Gadget (2001)
Deceased in the East/Extirpated Live Emanations (2003) • Something Sickened this Way Comes/To Clone and to Enforce (2006)
HF Seveninches Collection Vol. 1 (2008)
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| Demo(s): |
Dissecting the Caseated Omentum (1992) • Excreting Innards (1992) • Cadaveric Splatter Platter (1993)
Grotesuq Putrefied Brains (1993) • Horrific Expulsions of Gore (1994) • Rehearsal 99-00 (2000)
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| Compilation(s): |
Platters of Splatter (2004)
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| Review |
Shortly after their 2005 cover compilation album Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated, Exhumed had called it a day for some time due to various reasons involving personal issues and lives. At least, that's according to the internet. Eventually, Exhumed started playing some shows, and had come back together as a band to sit down and record their latest effort. All Guts, No Glory marks the group's sixth studio release, and fifth full-length recording of original material. However, it appears the band hasn't lost much of a step, and retains the same bite they left us with on Anatomy is Destiny, but doesn't seem afraid to backtrack to their earlier Death Metal and Grindcore roots. But, is that all the band brings with them this time around?
The overall sound quality of No Guts, No Glory really captures the band's intensity well. The overall aggression and energy that Exhumed always brought with them, or tried to bring with them, is here in the purest, most intense form possible. This is all aided nicely by the production that sounds modern, but still dirty enough to give the album a good edge and make the music simply sound bludgeoning from start to finish. All of this is well established in the early instrumental track "All Guts, No Glory", which essentially sets up the general sound of the album through a mixture of Grindcore and Death Metal sounds that build up and eventually cut into the following track, "As Hammer to Anvil". The vocals are a little different this time around, though still going with the guttural performance as more of a background style against a stronger, more dominating rhaspier approach. However, this is where things start to get a little difficult, as these vocals come off more like a modern day Exodus vocal approach, though not harmonized in any way. There are also times where a slight Thrash influence can be felt in the music, such as with "As Hammer to Anvil", but not during the chugging groove influence American Death Metal approach that adds a layer of intimidation to the song.
The differing vocal sound coming off more like an aggressive Thrash approach instead of a rhaspier Death Metal style is something that you either get adjusted to as the album goes on, or something you can't look past. But, even if you can't, there's still a good amount of positive elements to this recording. With this effort, the band has incorporated the slower elements and breakdowns with a larger Death Metal influence a lot better, making transitions between them smoother, as well as retaining the aggressive atmosphere. They never really fit the music, and don't give it much more bite outside of a man with a rhaspy voice, but it still works for the effort when combined with the guttural performances. "I Rot Within" is a prime example. The song has an intensity to it that is like no other on this recording. The mixture of strong Death Metal with furious blisting Grindcore really makes for a strong track, though you can't help but pick up on moments that seem to channel Exodus again, especially with the vocals the way they are and the moments of silence during the rhasping of the title of the song against silence coming off a bit toned down of the chorus to "Deathamphetamine". Of course, this is more nitpicking, and it really won't become much of a problem whether you notice it or not. The guitar solo for the track works well, though more simplified then the rest of the track, and the music itself is just ruthless outside those moments of silence against the vocals and the slower solo. Basically, the song has "mosh pit hit" written all over it as it's ruthlessness is enough to get the listener's blood pumping wherever he or she may be and cause a circle pit to break out with any fear earshot to the intensity.
The best part of this effort is that, once again, the band manages to keep each track on here of the highest quality. There rally are no real filler tracks for this release, and even after plenty of spins you won't sit back and want to step away from the album so easily. There's a decent amount of variety to it, but at times you do get the sense that the music is starting to get a little old, though not really repetitive and boring. The energy and intensity of the recording definitely sees to that issue. Tracks like "Necrotized" and "I Rot Within" just hammer away at the listener at break neck speeds, and when it's more Death Metal oriented without a stronger Grindcore presence, tracks like "Through Cadaver Eyes" offer up the most unique draw to them, as the slower chugging moments mixed with pure fury and chaos from the faster material that straddles the line between the two styles really get your head banging along. Of course, sometimes these can go a bit too far and hurt the experience a bit. "Through Cadaver Eyes" has a good amount fo slower moments that transition well in and out, but this song also has a guitar solo that is out of place, taking up a stronger Heavy Metal ballad approach that simple doesn't fit the brutality of the faster or slower sections of the song.
There are so many great tracks on here that just bridge such a strong level of intimidation and aggression that it is hard to sit down and pick favorites or ones that stand out the most. But, of all the songs, it's perhaps the more haunting conclusion to "Death Knell" that stands out. The brief ringing of church bells at the end of the song, and then it's transition into the absolutely intense "Distorted and Twisted to Form" makes for the perfect Death Metal experience, and basically attaching them to one another in a natural means really makes things seem hopeless and worse off then they really are as far as atmosphere goes, which is a good thing to have. This is the sort of environment you would expect an album like this to have, and it exists, but not on all tracks. "Through Cadaver Eyes", "Dis-assembly Line" and a few others seem to lack that emotional tie to the music, though still retains enough of a brutal atmosphere to keep the listener going.
This is the album Anatomy is Destiny should have been, pure and simple. I's obvious time helped this band out to solidify the direction they wanted to take and the sound they would record for this release, and it makes for an album that was well worth waiting for. While the vocals don't quite suit the album and give it a bit of a different feel that is less commanding and intimidating then it could have been, there's no denying they still have a great amount of energy that is backed perfectly by the catchy, groovey or chugging Death Metal passages against a strong Grindcore/Goregrind presence that simply dominates the listener from start to finish. For some, it may not seem all that engaging an album right at the start due to some of the changes in the sound, small or big as they are, but after a little time with the album, there's no denying that All Guts, No Glory goes right for the kill and grabs you by the throat, shaking you violently as is reminds you why Exhumed's name has stood the test of time, and their works have inspired many other bands. All Guts, No Glory is a welcome return from this Metal powerhouse, and despite some of it's problems, it's an album you will come to time and time again.
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