When we last heard from some of
these gentlemen, they were a band called Mahnhammer.After a little time away and some personnel
re-grouping, they are back now as Ex-Gods.If you are fortunate enough, as I am, to live
in the same town as these guys, this is cause for much rejoicing.The world needs more bands like this.A lot more bands like this.
Per their press release, they
self-describe as a punk/noise/metal band, so we'll go with that.Besides, it saves me some work in describing
them myself.They are a heavy band
without being, like, crushing or oppressively heavy.More like cast iron skillet to the face
heavy.This is definitely one of those
bands though, that when you listen to the album you think, “I bet these guys play
loud”.Having seen them live, you would
be correct.Loud and face smashing in
the very best of ways.
The re-organization of the band
seems to have done some good.These
songs are a little more concise than the previous release and they sound like
they have a better idea of how they want to come across to you, the
listener.The recording of this album is
very good and for my ears, the mix is great.The vocals, especially, are in the right place in the mix, which makes
it easier to hear and understand the lyrics.I have had this disc on repeat for several days now and I am not
anywhere near being tired of it.That is
probably the best thing I can say about any release.
What is it like?The music is very raw and visceral and gets
right to the point.Some bands who play
in this style tend to over do it with the tempos, whereas Ex-Gods hit
that mid-tempo pace and there is a little swing and groove to these songs.If your idea of groove is maniacally banging
your head and listening to music that makes you want to rip shit up.This is the perfect album for those totally
shitty days when you want to go home and punch holes in the walls and light
your couch on fire.Instead, you put
this on at maximum volume and takes the place of all the mayhem you could do.
I could have used some more
songs.There are only 6 tracks and they
are mostly fairly short.But that is not
really a big deal.Just put it on repeat
and enjoy this over and over again.The
key word there being “enjoy”.This is a
good one.You need this album.
Comments