EXHORDER „Defectum Omnium”

Nuclear Blast Records, March 2024

Music: Thrash Metal

Website:

https://www.exhorder.com/

Duration: 54:20 (12 tracks)

Country: USA

EXHORDER is the band was plagued by lineup changes and quite long activity breaks. They released two great albums in the early 1990s and then it was followed by long publishing silence. Their next album, “Mourn The Southern Skies,” came out in 2019. Shortly after its release, vocalist Kyle Thomas grabbed the guitar and a little later invited guitarist Pat O’Brien, who is best known for vicious guitar playing on many CANNIBAL CORPSE albums. Pat had previously played for several years in NEVERMORE, with whom he made a outstanding album called “Politics Of Ecstasy” and also had a brief episode in SLAYER as a live guitarist. He didn’t play with them for a long time, as Gary Holt eventually became the permanent member, but the very fact that Pat was the first choice to replace Jeff Hanneman says a lot about his abilities. It’s great to see that he managed to sort his life out, as he had been in considerable trouble with the law a few years before joining EXHORDER.

The opener “Wrath Of Prophecies” became one of the representatives of the album in the released videos. It was a great choice, as this track has everything needed to summarize all the advantages of “Defectum Omnium”. We have fast thrash riffs, enhanced by short blasts on the drums, Kyle’s furious vocals and great solo, one of many on this album. The second number “Under The Gaslight” starts with medium tempo in rather dull riff and vocal line. Placing this song as the second one on the album was probably meant to bring diversity to the album from the very beginning, but for me, compared to the rest of the album, this track as a whole loses the race with the remaining songs. The only thing that stands out is Pat’s solo there. The same as in CANNIBAL CORPSE, he still has great sense of how to play his solo parts in such a way that they are one of a kind. Of the other tracks at slower tempos, I was definitely more taken by “The Tale Of Unsound Minds,” with Kyle’s awesome vocals, in which he proves what a versatile vocalist he is. He sings with incredible passion in this track, in line with slow and heavy riffs. There’s a brief acceleration in the middle of the song, but only for the solo part and after that we return to Doom Metal at it’s best. “Defectum Omnium / Stolen Hope” is equally intense, and the final song “Your Six” could have been found on any DOWN album, for example. What is more interesting, the  latter has guest solos by Rick Wartel and Bruce Franklin from mighty TROUBLE.

As for the Thrash Metal ride, I recommend “Year Of The Goat” or “Desensitized”, which crush from start to finish with fury by both musical and vocal performance. “Taken By Flames” accelerates shortly after a heavy introduction, but then the band rushes relentlesly to the very end, with the difference that this number it is a bit more catchy than on those two above.

In order not to spoil the fun, there is no point in summarizing all the tracks on the album. Generally, we get a similar balance between heavy and fast parts, which make interesting mixture. The whole album is not monotonous and  that is the great advantage of the album. Kyle and his companions have done their best during the composing process, because we have a wealth of riffs through the album, which chop our heads off with their intensity and precision and knock us down a moment later with extraordinary heaviness. All this is complemented by Kyle’s vocal lines, which have so many colours and emotions that it’s hard to count them.

“Defectum Omnium” is an album that amazed me practically from the first listen, and with subsequent listens it revealed even more layers. I invite you to explore them on your own. The album is definitely worth it.

Tracklist:

Wrath Of Prophecies
Under The Gaslight
Forever And Beyond Despair
The Tale Of Unsound Minds
Divide And Conquer
Year Of The Goat
Taken By Flames
Defectum Omnium  /  Stolen Hope
Three Stages Of Truth / Lacing The Well
Sedition
Desensitised
Your Six

Line-up:

Kyle Thomas – wokal, gitara
Pat O’Brien – gitara
Jason Viebrooks – bas
Sasha Horn – bębny

Rate: 9/10