Exhumed – To The Dead Review

Exhumed is one thing, and in that one thing, Exhumed is many things.

Exhumed is gore metal, of course, the self-determined appellation that adorns their classic debut album, and in being “gore metal,” they are death metal, grindcore, thrash metal… They’ve always been mentioned alongside their obvious heroes in Carcass, though in being a “Carcass clone,” they’re also more than just that, adding their own flair and aggression to just about every possible variation upon the themes laid out on Symphonies and Necroticism so long ago. They’ve flirted with more melodic sides (Anatomy Is Destiny, the post-hiatus offerings), with slower and doomier moments (bits of Necrocracy), and even with symphonic elements (on Death Revenge). Now, for To The Dead, they’ve come back around towards their center, taking a step back from Horror’s notably grindier attack to find a spot that’s both comfortably Exhumed and yet still feels fresh considering the shifting leanings of the previous two.

Exhumed is Matt Harvey, the founder and only member to appear on all their releases, but Exhumed is also Ross Sewage, co-vocalist and bassist from the earliest days who’s now on his third release since rejoining in 2016. Sewage’s low-end guttural is a perfect compliment to Harvey’s thrashy bark, and their high-low snarl-gurgle vocal interplay is one of the strongest parts of Exhumed’s musical formula. Exhumed is also Sebastian Phillips and Mike Hamilton – the former making his sophomore appearance after joining in time for Horror in 2019, and one half of the band’s riffing and soloing tagteam with Harvey; the latter a decade-long veteran behind the kit, the blasting and thrashing energy inside this bloodthirsty beast. And now Exhumed is even more than those four, having opened the songwriting doors to former members, a move that undoubtedly helped To The Dead find that comfortable middle ground between classic Exhumed and current Exhumed.

It’s in that comfort that To The Dead is strongest – it’s an album at once familiar and fresh, like stepping into a well-worn skin suit. Even more importantly, To The Dead also an album that benefits from a strong collection of tracks that sound exactly like the band should, like they have, without feeling at all rehashed. Immediately hooky riffs define the likes of “Drained Of Color” (that chugging intro!) and “Rank And Defiled” (that chorus riff!) and late-entry “Defecated” (that carving and blasting chorus hook!). Gory themes and goofy puns push against one another in typical Exhumed fashion, in the tongue-in-cheek bloodsoaked good times of “Undertaking The Overkilled” and “No Headstone Unturned.” Yes, it’s all still very Carcass-indebted, but there’s an energy captured here that even those veterans couldn’t quite muster on Torn Arteries.

Exhumed is Exhumed, and this is what they do, but it’s also what they’ve done, and what they’ll hopefully do forever. To The Dead is one album, many songs, many parts of the same rotting cadaver, and it’s another great entry into a catalog filled with great entries. ‘Tis the season for the macabre, the frightening, the slasher film, the bloody morbid fun. ‘Tis the season for gore metal, and for Exhumed.