Exmortem - Funeral Phantoms (2008)

[myhomeismycastle]

Exmortem (Dnk) - Funeral Phantoms
Genre: Death Metal
Für Fans von: Immolation


Mighty Music, October 27th, 2008

Line-up for this album:
Simon Petersen - vocals
Martin Thim - guitar
Andreas Schubert - guitar
Kim Nielsen - bass
Morten Siersb¿k - drums

All lyrics by Martin Thim
Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9 music by Martin Thim
Tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 music by Andreas Schubert
1. Black Opium 03:56
2. Souls of Tyrants 03:07
3. Fixed in Slime 03:09
4. Funeral Phantom 03:28
5. The Vultures Gather 03:46
6. Anger Trumpet Blow 04:12
7. Salvation 03:31
8. For the Grave of History 05:02
9. Slow Death Regimes 03:46
10. View to a Death in the Morning 03:31
Total playing time 37:32

With the Danish death metal scene having had a rush of fresh blood in the last few years, it”ll be interesting to see how one of the Danish DM scene veterans fare with their newest release. I am of course talking about Exmortem, who”s been a surety for quality death metal during the last 15 years. The last few albums have seen a steady rise in aggression and speed, with their latest before “Funeral Phantoms”, 2005”s “Nihilistic Contentment” was almost grind-like in its Hate Eternal-ish style of fast, murderous death metal.

However, with “Funeral Phantoms”, Exmortem changes their style of music drastically. Gone are the frenzied break-neck speed assaults, at least on the surface. Taking a full 180 degree turn, Exmortem now treats us to music that hauls itself along at an almost absurdly slow pace creating an aura of such dismal despair that one can”t help but feel utterly crushed by the relentless death metal. This feeling isn”t accidental. Death is the prime inspiration here, and it shows! A lot of work has gone into making everything - artwork, lyrics and music fit together - and while the artwork especially helps in setting the mood, the music is obviously what really brings the feeling of death to life.

The music is characterised by the chugging guitars, which create a wall of sound and don”t allow speed to enter the songs but in very small doses. Intricate riffs and signature changes make the songs avoid getting monotonous, in fact make them hauntingly interesting - each of the tracks is different from the others, but all share the same feeling of hopelessness and human despair. Just listen to the slow brutality of songs such as “The Vultures Gather”, album opener “Black Opium” or the almost Immolation-like “Fixed In Slime”. Even though the pace is as slow as is, the drums go from both dragging themselves along, following the almost tardy chainsaw work, to blasting in the background, which yet again fills the songs with motion vivacity, even though some of them slow down so much that they make Bolt Thrower seem fast! Slow doesn”t mean sluggish though! The overall feeling reeks with barely contained anger and abhorrence of human stupidity, a feeling that is very much helped on its way by the abysmal snarl of vocalist Simon Petersen. A mix between death metal growls and the more shrieking screams of war metal, the vocals suits this music perfectly. And not everything is slow all the time either. Every once in a while Exmortem will unleash a grindy attack on the world in the style of their older records; full force, no prisoners, die all. Listen to the brutal opener of “Anger Trumpet Blow” or the hate and contempt-filled fast little gem “Salvation” or album closer “A View To A Death In The Morning”. Exmortem kind of reverse the tried and tested Suffocation style of brutal death metal - brutal fast death metal that slows down into breakdowns - into brutal and extremely slow death metal that suddenly speeds up into a frenzy.

Such well executed death metal in this style hasn”t been seen since the old Incantation. This is pure death metal, but the bleakness and grim lyrical universe clearly draws inspiration from Black Metal, which is also evident in the music itself. Give the excellent title track “Funeral Phantoms” a spin and the parallel is clearly found in both drumming and riffs. Exmortem is a slavering beast that will show no mercy, but rather drag you with them into a world of hopelessness, despair and death. Fixed in slime indeed! [8½]

http://exmortem666.wordpress.com/2008/10...view-8510/


EDIT thx braindad:
http://www.myspace.com/exmortem

Inzwischen ganz im Stil von Immolation sind die Dänen von frühen Grindpfaden abgekommen und bieten hier eigenständige, abwechslungsreiche Kost. Ihre musikalische Herkunft fließt aber noch in ihren neuen Sound mit ein und so gibt es ein überraschend frisches Album, obwohl man den Dunklen und Doomigen Death Metal nicht neu erfindet [8,5/10]

[braindad]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, kein myspace link! shame on you

http://www.myspace.com/exmortem


zur musik: gefällt mir, geht nett auf den deckel. allerdings ist der titel track recht lahm. der rest des albums wird demnäscht belauscht

[padrak]

Gutes Scheibchen bisher, liegt noch auf Testrotation

[PunkZERO]

Hat was

[Aasfresser]

klingt interessant... wird am wochenende mal ausseinader ganommen.

[padrak]

Tolles Album!!

Das sie Humus gefällt, wundert mich allerdings

[braindad]

da werde ich nochmal genauer reinlauschen müssen. einerseits machen die myspace-tracks stellenweise einen richtig guten eindruck, andere parts gefallen mir dann wiederum nicht so gut. insgesamt sind die vocs auch nicht so ganz mein ding.