Review Summary: ‘Anatomy Is Destiny’ is a great release primarily because Exhumed have found a pleasing middle ground between extreme metal violence and a keen sense of song writing proficiency.
California’s Exhumed are band that I for some reason have overlooked for many years. Recently, after reading about comparisons to such abiding extreme metal outfits as Carcass and Autopsy, the band popped back up onto my radar, and I finally got around to listening to their third full length, ‘Anatomy Is Destiny’. And boy am I glad that I did.
‘Anatomy Is Destiny’ serves up the perfect death metal/grind recipe that makes for a truly pulverizing experience. Whilst the songs are certainly hectic (just check out the utterly ruthless ‘The Matter Of Splatter‘) and rattle along with a grindcore intensity, there is a definitive structure to the tracks and a awareness of composition and arrangement which retains a pleasant infectiousness without negating the merciless disposition.
The most prevalent example of this is in the guitar leads, which happily forego the undisciplined and dissonant shredding and redundant whammy bar abuse that many bands exhibit, as solos such as ‘In The Name Of Gore’ remain frantic and frenzied yet soar with a melodic temperament.
Although, the high tempos are not the only affecting weapon in Exhumed’s arsenal. The band frequently throughout the disc make uses of some monstrous sludgy grooves, such as in opener ‘Waxwork’, where at the two and a half minute mark the track breaks down into a lurching, heaving riff that stands as an album highlight. Again this displays the bands ability to assess when to alter pace and construction in order to create the most devastating experience possible.
The vocal juxtaposition, although being nothing new, also works well. The gutturals are extremely low, almost to the point where they are difficult to hear, yet are always quickly replaced by some high pitched shrieks that are constantly impressive in their clarity and speed, especially in the aforementioned ‘The Matter Of Splatter’, with the blistering vocal lines being executed fantastically well.
‘Anatomy Is Destiny’ is a great release primarily because Exhumed have found a pleasing middle ground between extreme metal violence and a keen sense of song writing proficiency. Combining these two elements, the band have succeed in creating an album with endless replay value, avoiding the all too inevitable pitfall that many succumb to and concentrating on sonic barbarity over memorable tracks.
