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Exhorder: The law
26/02/10 || InquisitorGeneralis
FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK MEEEEEEEEEEEEE how did I not know of the awesomeness penis touchdown domination that is Exhorder! I must give a huge fucken shoutout to new staffer Wooderson. I would never have heard this shit if not for peepin’ and creepin’ in on his Class6(66) review of “Slaughter in Vatican” (we staffers have that amazing power) and got more than a little rise in my pants when I read about a New Orleans thrash band that began the whole groove thing. See, metal from the late 80s and early 90s is my absolute favorite and bands like Coroner, Pantera, Sepultura, Death, and Fear Factory are the top gods in my metal pantheon. One click later on iTunes and “The Law” was mine.
From opener “Soul search me” to the the unbelievably kickass closer “(Cadence of) the dirge” this album is 100% badass and has zero flaws. No track is weak and filler just is not in the cards. Oh, and fuck the Pantera drama bullshit. To me, the only real simliarity I see is the vocals. Kyle Thomas and Phil Anselmo share the same yelling/growling vocal delivery. Exhorder even drop a badfuckenass cover my personal favorite Black Sabbath song “Into the void”. The pace is a bit slower than on “Slaughter in the Vatican” but the heaviness, and total fucken awesomeness, can not be denied.
Perfect early 90s production backs up every winning number on here. The song structures are also a bit more simplified than on “Slurper in the Vagincan”, but no less enjoyable. The slower, sludgier, southern ‘Nawlins vibe is Tussin quality thick on “The Law”. “I am the cross” personifies this mix of thrash and slower groove and features Christ-hating lyrics even the most trve cvlt Blvck Mvtaller would enjoy. It is my pick for the strongest track on here. “The law” is another excellent, mid-paced facebreaker with some quality drumming courtesy of Chris Nail who provides a solid percussion backbone throughout the entirety of “The Law”. Again, not as fast or trashy as “Slaughter…” but still excellent.
“Into the void” is a cover done right: it contains the original gloomy doomy spirit of Sabbath but the amped up guitars and heavier drumming are a perfect upgrade to early 90s metal awesomeness. “(Cadence of) The Dirge” is another slow track features a killer breakdown at the end that has been copied 40,000 times in the past fifteen years by metal and hardcore bands alike. I can not single out any song I don’t like on “The Law”. It is quality the whole way through. Even the instrumental “Incontinence” is great.
“The Law” is a great fucken album and has something for thrash, sludge, stoner, death, and groove metal fans. I feel like a little punk bitch for just getting into Teh Know about Exhorder, but that is my cross to carry. My dark ages though are over and now all I can pray for this that these guys get some new material and a tour booked pronto. While it seems to always be in the shadow of the masterpiece “Slaughter in the Vatican”, “The Law” is quality album that can stand on its own and shows the band did not just want to carbon-copy their first record. “The Law” is post-thrash, groove, whatever-the-fuck you want to call it metal perfection.
I look at it the same way I look at Coroner’s masterpiece Grin or the habitually and unnecessarily shit on “Swansong” by Carcass: a progressive, slower album that is almost perfect but lost in the musical clusterfuck that was the early to mid 90s. If you long for those days when metal was heavy but not overly insane and groove did not mean pussy then “The Law” is the album for you and requires your immediate attention.
- Information
- Released: 1992
- Label: Roadrunner Records
- Website: Exhorder MySpace
- Band
- Kyle Thomas: vocals
- Vinnie Labella: guitars
- Jay Ceravolo: guitars
- Frank Sparcello: bass
- Chris Nail: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Soul Search Me
- 02. Unforgiven
- 03. I Am the Cross
- 04. Unborn Again
- 05. Into the Void (Black Sabbath Cover)
- 06. The Truth
- 07. The Law
- 08. Incontinence
- 09. (Cadence of) The Dirge
