HEAVY T.O. 2012: Exhumed

OK, I have to admit that these guys are not my cup of tea and most likely will be at the beer tent watching their performance.  Not because I feel they are a horrible band (they ALL have more instrumental talent than I do so...nuff said) but just because they make extreme music for extreme people.  Unfortunately, this is a category I do not fall under.  To each their own absolutely and that's why I still decided to cover EVERY band regardless of taste.  This is a great festival for Toronto and we hope to see many more years of it.  That being said, we can't have all the same music or else it would be...boring!  So bring on the extreme for all your hardcore fans.  We bring you EXHUMED! (NOTE: Graphic artwork for young readers)



Formed in 1991, when the band's sole remaining founding member Matt Harvey was at the tender age of 15, Exhumed spent much of the ensuing decade hacking its way through numerous line-ups, demos, split CDs, and Eps. The band finally recorded their debut album, the genre-(re)defining and critic-repulsing "Gore Metal" in 1998. The album crystallized the "old-school Death Metal meets full-on Grindcore with the spirit of Thrash" sound forged with their last demo and first split CD (1994's "Horrific Expulsion of Gore" and 1996's "In the Name of Gore" respectively).



Exhumed is:

Matt Harvey (decrepit death rattle and repugnant requiems) | Wes Caley (thanatotic threnodies and ulcerous ululations) | Rob Babcock (excrescent exhortations and festering funereal fugues) | Mike Hamilton (purulent pulse)



This led to the band's first US tour and American festival appearances (their only previous out of California shows had been 9 dates in central Europe in 1997 with Hemdale supporting "In the Name of Gore"). The band continued to morph line-ups with the release of the back-to-basics sophomore record "Slaughtercult" in 2001. The album blatantly blended the band's brutal cult-thrash influences into its sonic meat-grinder. “Slaughtercult” allowed the band to do three US tours, and their first proper European tour, including co-headlining festivals like Fuck the Commerce and Obscene Extreme. 2001 also found Exhumed at the Wacken Open Air festival and in Japan for the first time.



The band evolved further with their third album, 2003's "Anatomy is Destiny" which added more sophisticated arrangements, production and instrumentation into the Gore Metal formula. After the departure of the band's co-founder, drummer Col Jones the same year, the band issued a massive 2CD compilation of their early recordings, appropriately dubbed "Platters of Splatter". After touring all over America, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and even Iceland, the band realigned its personnel yet again, notably adding guitarist Wes Caley and the re-enlisting bassist/vocalist Leon DelMuerte. The re-vamped line-up released an album of cover versions called “Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated” in 2005 which was intended as a stopgap release before album #4. Work was also undertaken on a DVD with live footage and documentary material, but the band's dissolution in '05 left the project in limbo.



After six years away from the scene and numerous other projects, Harvey, Caley, and del Muerte teamed up with drummer Danny Walker, who had toured with the band during the “Anatomy...” era to finally excrete a new album, “All Guts, No Glory” in 2011. The album has met with critical praise and an onslaught of enthusiastically-received live shows in Europe and America this year, including Maryland Death Fest, Hell Fest in France, Neurotic Death Fest in Holland, Party San Open Air in Germany and many, many more. 2011 finds the band at the top of their game, delivering their strongest album to date and ready to masticate and expectorate all comers.

1. All Guts, No Glory
2. As Hammer To Anvil
3. Your Funeral, My Feast
4. Through Cadaver Eyes
5. Death Knell
6. Distorted And Twisted To Form
7. I Rot Within
8. Dis-assembly Line
9. Necrotized
10. Funereality
11. So Let It Be Rotten... So Let It Be Done

So what do these guys have that's recent we can check out?  Well, (below) you can check out a track from their latest album "All Guts, No Glory".  The track streaming is "As Hammer To Anvil":



You can check out more of Exhumed at the following links:

- Relapse Records Page
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Myspace

Now want some album reviews before you decide to grab the album/buy the concert ticket?  Check out a few of these great reviews from some notable music websites:

"One of Exhumed’s strengths, and an element that people often talk about when the band is brought up, is their use of a dual vocal approach. Many death metal bands boasting a double or triple vocal assault simply do it to boost their presence for live performances and don’t care that their multiple singers sound exactly the same. Not these guys! Exhumed divide up the frequencies, with one vocalist performing guttural lows, and the other emitting higher shrieks and screams. On All Guts, No Glory, the vocalists are panned slightly away from each other to emphasize this point, which adds a cool live dynamic to the record.

Overall, Exhumed have delivered another brutal, in your face offering laced with comedic horror themes. Their chosen genre might not be appropriate for all moods and activities, but when you have an itching to bang your head and give in to your uttermost metalness, this is the band to turn to." -The New Review

***

"What makes an album like All Guts, No Glory so awesome is its dedication to entertaining what could be considered a built-in audience. Casual listeners won’t find much groundbreaking musical progression here, but how many casual listeners will buy it? Metalheads uninterested in gore worship will overlook it, but fans of dripping blood, gaping autopsies, and ravenous zombies will absolutely adore this record. Gore lives." -Revolver

***

"I could go on and on, but all you really need to know is that you know what you're going to get with Exhumed, and the getting is good. This is pure gore virility, spreading its seed. Few shredders have the instinct and ability of Harvey in death metal today, and have the benefit of being paired with such uncommon brutality in the vocal department in the form of del Muerte. “All Guts, No Glory” is utterly revolting in all the right ways, but doesn't just sit back and rely on disgust. The songs are tight and structured, with no lag or filler. The album simply lunges for the kill, and carries it out in the sickest, most bizarre, inhumane, unusual, and cruel way imaginable.

Highs: Exhumed are back, hungry, vicious, and unrelenting.

Lows: No gripes, just gore.

Bottom line: Another old corpse crawls out of the grave to show the rest how it should be done, always." -Metal Underground

So in closing, if you're a fan of the blood, guts. glory and malice, then these guys are juuuust right for you.  These guys (as well as the other article previously posted for HEAVY TO) will be on earlier in the day, so be sure to get there early for your morning/afternoon supplement of gore!


*EXHUMED WILL BE PERFORMING ON SUNDAY (THE 12TH) AT THE JAGERMEISTER WEST STAGE FROM 13:00-13:30*