{"id":96538,"date":"2019-10-30T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T18:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/?p=96538"},"modified":"2019-10-30T13:08:30","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T18:08:30","slug":"review-exmortus-legions-of-the-undead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/review-exmortus-legions-of-the-undead\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Exmortus &#8211; <i>Legions of the Undead<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just in time for Halloween and their upcoming tour with <strong>Death Angel<\/strong>, SoCal death\/thrashers <strong>Exmortus<\/strong> return with a new EP, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legions of the Undead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Although scanty as a full release, the new originals featured in the EP point to promising things in the band\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With five albums under their belt, Exmortus know their craft and know it well. Their songs are an exciting mix of neoclassical shredding, harsh vocals, and general uptempo thrash. Both the title track and \u201cSwallow Your Soul\u201d hit that sweet spot of instrumental flash without devolving into <strong>Malmsteen<\/strong>ian wankery. Both songs alternate between speedy thrash and more mid-tempo stomp, and they both feature a series of gymnastic solos and fairly memorable choruses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_99605\"  width=\"320\" height=\"240\"  data-origwidth=\"320\" data-origheight=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VTp2a-5K-nY?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The EP\u2019s production values are top-notch\u2014the guitars of Jadran Gonzalez and Chase Becker slash and burn through both riffs and solos, Adrian Aguilar\u2019s drums hit with enough power to carry the tracks without drowning out the rest of the mix, and Philip Nunez\u2019s bass is clearly audible anchoring the low-end throughout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the original tracks open <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legions of the Undead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on just the right note, the following three covers don\u2019t do a consistent job maintaining that momentum. First up is Danny Elfman\u2019s main theme from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beetlejuice<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which the band pulls off in stylish fashion; I found Nunez carrying the theme\u2019s jaunty piano riff on the bass particularly satisfying.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_35630\"  width=\"320\" height=\"240\"  data-origwidth=\"320\" data-origheight=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GBKWMh60lDE?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next is their cover of <strong>Bernard Hermann<\/strong>\u2019s main theme from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pyscho<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Although the theme itself is iconic, it doesn\u2019t really translate well to Exmortus\u2019 shred-heavy style. There just isn\u2019t a whole lot for the band to work with, and the EP as a whole suffers for it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, the last cover is of <strong>Modest Mussorgsky<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cNight on Bald Mountain\u201d (you may know it as the section of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fantasia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with the spoopy demon) and it actually works quite well as a stand-alone track. As far as covers go it\u2019s by far the best choice Exmortus made here and the band\u2019s style meshes well with Mussorgsky\u2019s ominous score. If anything, \u201cNight on Bald Mountain\u201d made me want more covers from Exmortus in this vein\u2014surely there\u2019s a wealth of dark classical music to dig through rather than the assorted works of <strong>Tim Burton<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-96539 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?resize=425%2C425&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"425\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?w=425&amp;ssl=1 425w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?resize=130%2C130&amp;ssl=1 130w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Legions-of-the-Undead.jpg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bottom line: <\/strong><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legion of the Undead <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shows that Exmortus hasn&#8217;t lost their chops since their last album. Even after repeated listens, I was still excited to hear \u201cLegions of the Undead,\u201d \u201cSwallow Your Soul\u201d and \u201cNight on Bald Mountain,\u201d and if their next album continues in that same vein I\u2019ll be waiting expectantly for its release.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">3.5 out ov 5 Flaming Toilets<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/NEW_TOILETSCALE_3-5_of_5.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-38029\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/NEW_TOILETSCALE_3-5_of_5.jpg?resize=1024%2C234&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/NEW_TOILETSCALE_3-5_of_5.jpg?resize=1024%2C234&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/NEW_TOILETSCALE_3-5_of_5.jpg?resize=300%2C68&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/NEW_TOILETSCALE_3-5_of_5.jpg?w=1249&amp;ssl=1 1249w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Legions of the Undead\u00a0<\/em>is out October 25, 2019 through M-Theory Audio. You can pick up a copy over at <a href=\"https:\/\/exmortus-official.bandcamp.com\/\">Bandcamp.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just in time for Halloween and their upcoming tour with Death Angel, SoCal death\/thrashers Exmortus return with a new EP, Legions of the Undead. Although scanty as a full release, the new originals featured in the EP point to promising things in the band\u2019s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":96709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,70],"tags":[6284,9520,416],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/exo.jpg?fit=710%2C375&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96538"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96800,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96538\/revisions\/96800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}