Track 9 Sepultura cover!!
Exhumation is a melodic death metal band you've probably never heard of, and I wouldn't blame you, considering they are considered one of the lesser known melodeath bands from the late 90s. I myself haven't heard much of them besides Marios Iliopoulos being part of it before he formed Nightrage, but about a week ago, I finally decided to check out their albums, and of all of the releases, my favorite easily goes to "Dance Across the Past".
DATP came out a year after the debut, and despite a year gap, a lot has improved. From the first track "Images of Our Extinction", the guitars play some standard melodeath riffs, but the tone is more dark and melancholic than usual, sort of reminiscent of In Flames's "Clayman" or just about anything Gates of Ishtar has put out. The drumming is also great, as its simple, yet engaging beat patterns help set a fine tempo that the rest of the instruments follow well. There's even the occasional keyboards and clean guitars, which are spectacular and serve as a good contrast from the heavy riffs. As great as the first track is, the personal standalone tracks are "Withered Sky", "Dance Across the Past", and "Sin", as these tracks have some of the most emotional riffs, with "Dance Across the Past" in particular being a short, yet epic piece with a mix of clean guitars and magnificent heavy riffs. I should also note that the particular version I have also includes bonus tracks from the previous album "Seas of Eternal Silence". Those tracks are also good, but after listening to all nine tracks of emotional melodeath, they seem more like a downgrade. Nothing against them, but that's just goes to show how much of an improvement the new tracks are.
As for the vocals, they're also great. John Nokteridis has done the vocals for all of the albums, and this album includes some of his best vocal performances. John mainly goes for some screams and yelling, which sound emotional and only further the sorrowful atmosphere within the instrumentals. One good example of this is "The Slender Light", with once again includes some emotion-heavy riffs. John's screams perfectly captures the feeling of loneliness and questioning your existence, and flows perfectly with those slow, yet moving riffs. Kimberly Goss also has some guest vocals in the third track, and the melodic singing she does fits perfectly with the clean guitars and keyboard, and contrasts the screams perfectly. Given the hard-hitting sound of the guitars, it only makes sense that John would pull the same thing with his vocal performance, which I think goes great.
Even the lyrics are amazing. The songwriting with Exhumation has usually been good, but here, I think they outdid themselves. Take the lyrics to "Moonless Night" for example, where this verse quotes:
I already lost
empty horizons are my visions
and this is where I can only be
far beyond the sky
I lay down my wings
till the clouds
will uncover the sun
The lyrical themes on this album deal with depression and tragedy, and this particular verse nails it with a simple, yet powerful statement of self-defeat. And with the depressive tone of the lyrics, you can't help but feel bad for the guy. Furthermore, this goes hand-to-hand with the instrumentals and vocals, as the guitar riffs only further push the agony and regret, with the painful screams basically being a excellent representation of the character's agony. The lyrics might not be DSBM depressing, but there's something about the sadness in these stories that make you feel dejected.
All three of the albums Exhumation put out are fantastic, but "Dance Across the Past" stands out as a personal favorite for me for several reasons. From the emotional riffs to the passionate vocals and even the regretful tone of the lyrical themes, DATP serves as a tragic, yet beautiful representation of everything the band has to offer. Exhumation would sadly call it quits in 2000, and as I;ve said in the introduction, lead guitarist Marios Iliopoulos would go on to form Nightrage. But given the recent represses from 2021, I do have my fingers crossed that more people in the future will check out this album alongside everything else from this short-lived band.
Sample:
youtube.com/watch?v=04WyGLR1Al4&list=RD04WyGLR1Al4&start_radio=1&t=607s
