Tuesday, 9 February 2016

I Exalt - Servant





Technical deathcore rising stars, I Exalt, are back with their second offering in the form of Servant, a six-track taste of the new progressive direction the Adelaide five piece are heading.

Servant begins with War Mouth, a haunting one-minute intro with eerie distortion and screams of pain and agony, perfectly preluding the brutality that’s about to be unleashed.

With it’s grossly heavy and dark approach, Slaves helps to cement the tone of this EP. While the track is more straightforward than the rest of the EP, it’s the last 90 seconds of this track that truly showcases their ability. With a gradual build up into a technical thrashing of guitars and drums, it’s perfectly matched with shrill vocals that sound like they’ve been unleashed from Hell. The good news – it only gets heavier from here.

Next up is Formless, filled with impressive and fancy riffing, punishing and unforgiving groove and drum fills that leave you banging your head to the madness that ensues. With a performance that screams sorrow, pain, hatred and aggression, Daniel Konstantinou absolutely nails it on the vocals. While he’s always had impressive vocals to suit the unique sound of I Exalt, his range has improved significantly since their last EP Vessel and it shows just how much effort and practice he has put in for this release. Going from deep and guttural growls that would fit right in on a Devourment album, to high-pitched and earsplitting screams that would leave Alex Koehler (Chelsea Grin) red in the face.

The familiar sounds of a Behemoth-esque intro ushers in the relentless Dialect, which is my personal standout track. Every single member in the band shines on this one; especially the drummer Mason Page, who illustrates his talent with some extremely well executed and audibly pleasing gravity blasts. The boys made a video for Dialect, giving further weight to the track with the addition of the powerful visuals. A special guest vocal spot by Matthew Jones from UK deathcore outfit Martyr Defiled also gives the song an even heavier vibe. By this point you might need a lobotomy from the sheer brutality that your brain has endured, and that’s exactly what you’ll get.

The second last track, Lobotomy, which was the lead single from the release, brings a chaotically creative edge. With melodic guitar structures and deeply harsh vocals, this track is a brooding anthem that delivers strongly.

Finally, a Black Mass occurs as we sail into the darkness of the closing track. All of the elements are here to create a perfect formula for a technical and vigorous deathcore song. Explosive from start to finish, energetic and most importantly… a pure evil sound.

Watch the official video for Dialect here:

Visit the links below to purchase Servant plus all merch: 

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