Hey there tech-fiends, I hope you all enjoyed last weeks Ingurgitating Oblivion premiere. Next week will see another sick song premiere in this space, but this week I'm focusing on the newly released Exocrine record. Before we dive into that, here's the usual reminder that all prior editions if this series can be perused here.
Back in 2015, Bordeaux, France natives Exocrine released their debut album called Unreal Existence. Unreal Existence showed a lot of technical skill and impressive musicianship but often felt unfocused and like a one-dimensional sonic mish-mash of their most obvious influences. Granted some bands can pull that take on tech-death off quite well, such as the new Phobiatic, but for others, it ends up being their Achilles heel. Even so, I had a feeling the band was more than capable of upping their game in the future so I was anxious to hear what the next Exocrine release might bring.
Now that their new full-length, Ascension, is out, the consensus is clear to me, the band have greatly improved and are crafting far more interesting and even further complex tech-death than they had been before. On Ascension, they play a hyperactive yet proggy take on tech-death that reminds me of a mix between Obscura, Beyond Creation, Necrophagist, Gorod, plus a bit of Beneath The Massacre, The Faceless, and Archspire. With some killer synth work throw in the mix too for good measure.
This is a massive step up for the band in just about every way, the transitions between ideas are smoother, the songwriting is sharper and more focused, and the production sounds way better as well compared to Unreal Existence. If you dig the embedded stream of Ascension below, you can order the record through the Great Dane Records Bandcamp page. Be sure to follow Exocrine over on their Facebook Page too.
