Exocrine – Legend
Release Date: 26th January 2024
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Technical Death Metal
FFO: Soreption, Cytotoxin, Archspire.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Technical death metal has come a long way since the days when Necrophagist turned the metal world on its head with the one-two punch of Onset of Putrefaction and Epitaph. Since then, numerous bands have come along to put their own twist on the genre. One band that is doing their part to push the genre even further is Exocrine, whose new album, Legend, is due out on 26 January. Hailing from Bordeaux, France, Exocrine is Sylvain Octor Perez on lead guitar, Nicolas La Rosa on guitar, Jordy Besse on bass and vocals, and Theo Gendron on drums. This line-up has been playing together since 2018, and it shows, both in the tightness of the instrumentation and the complexity of the compositions.
Legend is prototypical Exocrine, as on song after song the guitars and bass unleash a barrage of swirling notes to the accompaniment of high velocity drumming and hellish vocals. As with all Exocrine music, the album is full of atmosphere courtesy of the synthesizer programming that makes listening to the band feel like being stranded in space. The album has plenty of thick chugging riffs and lightning-quick licks on the guitars. Their influence comes mainly from the technical death metal realm, but there are a few bass drops thrown in, and even some black metal riffs used from time to time. Exocrine even adds a trumpet to the title track for good measure. This may sound odd for a metal song, but a lot of bands have been adding brass to their songs, and it totally fits. On Legend, the trumpet adds another layer of texture to make the song even better. The one thing I miss on this album is the 80s horror flick sounding synth playing that Exocrine used on some of their old records to eerie effect. It always made me think of X-Files or Stranger Things, and I loved it. One song on Legend does feature this type of eerie synth playing, but it’s a remake of Cryogenisation from their 2017 album Ascension, so it doesn’t really count. Besides this minor complaint, Legend is another top-tier tech death album from a band at the top of their game. If you love Exocrine, you are going to love Legend. If you haven’t heard Exocrine but love tech death, Legend is a great place to start.
(4.5 / 5)
