Intent – Exile
Release Date: 26th August 2022
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Thrash, Hardcore.
FFO: Hatebreed, Power Trip, Nuclear Holocaust.
Review By: Liam True
It’s been four years since Intent’s debut studio album, and they caused quite the commotion amongst the thrash/hardcore community with its approach to uniting the two styles. And on Exile it’s gotten much better. They sound tighter, more pissed off, and have more riffs than you can shake a stick at.
With lead single and album opener Victims Of Conquest, it’s clear what the band are here to do. Melt your face with their furious riffs and speed. With vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Lambert on double duty along with Laithan Bellavance also on guitars, it’s a furious battle between the two of whose sound will rip through the speakers first. Lambert’s vocals, while in the same style as Jamey Jasta’s from Hatebreed, congeal well with the blistering backdrop.
Title track Exile opens up with more riffs and devastation as drummer Garret Loper shows his true colours here as he demolishes the kit with his brutal hits, while bassist Patrick Murphy uses his booming sound to create a heavy sound that was missing on the prior track.
Shallow Earth shows the real thrash roots as the band match up with the speeds of Nuclear Holocaust & even Slayer at times while using their own brand of hardcore thrash to stand out from the crowd. The middle of the song does slow down before Bellavance cuts through you with his solo and pitch harmonics to satisfy your needs.
Primal Instinct is a slower and darker direction for the album, as even though they’re still fast on the track it’s one of the slowest on the album, it shows that you don’t need to write fast songs to be a solid thrash band, and they’ve proved that on this track alone. Verbatim then does a complete 180 and blows my previous statement out of the water with an M-82 as it’s a thrash metal fans dream. Fast, violent and a guitar solo to match as you can feel the fire from Bellavances’ fretboard.
Changing The Axis is also a contender for one of the slowest songs on the album as they’re still heavy and stick to their signature sound with Lamberts howls combining with the almost doom metal laden guitars as Loper cuts through the sound with an almost earthquake punch from his double bass kicks.
Time & 5th Column are both equally good album enders as they stick to the faithful sound of the band. Being a wild mess of hardcore and thrash that almost borders on a new genre altogether. All in all it’s a fantastic album with harsh cuts, unexpected slower moments and vicious fretwork that would make even Kerry King question his work. If you’re a thrash metal or even a hardcore fan, you NEED to check this album out. You won’t regret it.
(4 / 5)
