Band:	Exhumed
Album:	Horror
Style:	Deathgrind
Release date:	October 2019

01. Unsound
02. Ravenous Cadavers
03. Scream Out In Fight
04. The Red Death
05. Utter Mutilation Of Your Corpse
06. Slaughter Maniac
07. Ripping Death
08. Clawing
09. Naked, Screaming, And Covered In Blood
10. Playing With Fear
11. Dead Meat
12. Rabid
13. In The Mouth Of Hell
14. Shattered Sanity
15. Re-Animated
16. Crypt Of Terror [bonus]
17. Re-Entry And Destruction [bonus]
18. The Day Man Lost [bonus]

The legendary goregrind propagators are back, and things go about exactly as you'd expect.

With about as many releases to their name as there are bones in the body, it should come as no surprise that the simply (and aptly) titled Horror could just as easily be used as an educational tool for up and coming deathgrind bands to learn from as it could be background music for self-appointed torture porn aficionados. Their breakneck pace and slightly melodic-tinged approach -- continuing the trend of their more contemporary technical leanings -- sets the rage-inducing mood from the opening moments of founding member Matt Harvey's buzzing guitar. Littered with frenetic solos and relentless drum kit abuse, it's a complete assault on the senses, and not something any average listener would be capable of stomaching. However, if you're one to seek out this cacophonous sledgehammer of an album, then Exhumed are here to help (murder) you (and everyone you love).

While the band has undergone its fair share of lineup changes, its sole constant -- Matt Harvey -- has done an impeccable job forming his own Suicide Squad of musicians. Even though most of them weren't around for the early 2000s, when Exhumed were busy making a name for themselves on the backs of their first three full-lengths, nothing suggests a lack of chemistry on this album. It's tightly performed and straight to the point in its delivery, with all hands on deck for what is ultimately a masterful display of extreme metal of the highest tempo. The dual vocal styles of Harvey alongside returning member Ross Sewage makes for a more dynamic experience, as the two trade phlegm-heavy guttural bellows and higher pitched growls while the war zone instrumentation blasts along incessantly behind them. It can be an overwhelming journey, though only clocking in at just over 30 minutes, meaning some easy listening breaks of new age pop like Enya come highly recommended for those needing a temporary escape from all the carnage, unless of course the Carcass-esque amounts of groove are enough for you to relax with.

Everything that needs to be said about what Exhumed do well has already been said, but Horror isn't free from flaws. As is typical of most grind-related metal, one of the primary issues is -- and this comes highly debated in any review -- whether you call it consistency, or repetitiveness. There doesn't seem to be any blatant examples of rehashing old material or recycling riffs, but when digested as a whole in one sitting, songs tend to overlap in their standard use of fodder riffs, sometimes leaving the listener caught in a bind waiting for a solo or machine gun kick drum to break them free of the trance-like wave of nausea that overcomes them. It's a minor complaint as this fairly restrictive style is inherently prone to taking an idea and trying to bleed every ounce possible from it, but there are examples of experimental songwriting techniques that have moved the genre in places beyond their origins, so some outside influences wouldn't be the worst thing to incorporate. Then again, as a pure deathgrind album, you can't really ask for much better in this day and age. Exhumed do one thing and they do it well, and that will be more than enough for fans of their sound.