Band:	Exumer
Album:	Hostile Defiance
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	April 05, 2019
A review by:	nikarg

01. Hostile Defiance
02. Raptor
03. Carnage Rider
04. Dust Eater
05. King's End
06. Descent
07. Trapper
08. The Order Of Shadows
09. Vertical Violence
10. Splinter
11. He's A Woman - She's A Man [Scorpions cover] [CD bonus]
12. Supposed To Rot [Entombed cover] [CD bonus]

TL;DR version for those that can't be arsed to read reviews: Hostile Defiance sums up what Exumer have been throughout their career; far from brilliant, but undeniably decent and sometimes even enjoyable.

Germany's Exumer disappeared after a couple of Slayer-worshiping albums in the 1980s, with their biggest hit in their career being "Fallen Saint" off their debut, which at the time was rightly criticized for resembling way too much to "Black Magic". After 25 years of studio silence they came back with Fire & Damnation in 2012, The Raging Tides in 2016 and now we have Hostile Defiance in our hands.

The band's latest offering follows the same formula of the previous two, which is basically pacey thrash made for headbanging with adequate melodic edge. Exumer don't sound like Slayer anymore but they do bear a lot of similarities with their fellow Teutonic thrashers, Kreator (the later era Kreator, that is). This is pretty evident in the song structures, the choruses, the verses and bridges, the lead guitar melodies, and even the video for "King's End" borrows the aesthetic of "Civilization Collapse".

Exumer go all in with songs like the title track, "King's End" and "Splinter", but deliver their best performance with the mid-paced and cool-riffed "Dust Eater", as well as with "Descent", which boasts gorgeous Eastern-sounding melodies and an overall captivating lead guitar work. The bonus covers of Scorpions' "He's A Woman - She's A Man" and Entombed's "Supposed To Rot" have every right to be here and end the album on a high note; in fact, they are among the highlights of the record, though this is something that makes their original material seem rather weak in comparison.

While there is nothing terribly wrong with Hostile Defiance, there is also nothing particularly mind-blowing about it either. The riffs are alright but somewhat generic and repetitive, the songwriting is mostly one-dimensional, and the fact that the whole product sounds so much like this millennium's Kreator does not help it stand out. It is certainly well-made but lacks the hooks to make it memorable and after repeated listens, I can't find a lot of things that really stuck in my head.

I guess what I am trying to say is that Hostile Defiance is a nice addition to the band's discography, if you take into account the league that Exumer belong in. And, in football terms, we all know it's not the Champions' League.

"Ascension denied, in darkness we shall wither
Completion of life, the claws of hellish winter"