Exhorder : " Defectum Omnium"

The follow-up to the 2019 "Mourn the Southern Skies" album. Singer Kyle Thomas is the sole original member of the band now. He is joined by Cannibal Corpse guitarist Pat O"Brien and former Grip Inc. bassist. There is a denser and dirty thrashing going down with this album, that benefits from modern production value to darken things some. Iare spat out and goes straight for the throat in such a rapid-fire fashion, the vocals are spat at in an angry manner that feels like they are trying to keep up. Granted the bar for thrash these days is rather low, and they are still able to churn out enough catchy riffs to stand out, however, the rule around here is cool riffs do not a good song make. They ride this fine line when the album opens. 

"Under the Gaslight" comes closer to making the most of its grooves. The riffs punch in the right ways. There is more of a punk attack to "Forever and Beyond Despair". The drumming gets pretty frantic. It shifts through Slayer life drum patterns. The darker and more melodic direction begins to come to life with "The Tale of Unsound Minds" /Kyles's vocals are more soulful on this one which helps. They give more of a thrashing on "Divide and Conqueror". "Year of the Goat" has a more powerful drive. The hammering aggression is conveyed. Taken By Flames" is a pretty straightforward thrasher that reminds me a little of Testament. The "title track" is really just the intro to "Stolen Hope". They slow down to allow Kyle to sing more soulfully, which plays off their strengths as a band. The blues drench swamp sludge is a good sound for them. It is pretty effective when he goes up into his higher register as it's done in a manner that doesn't sound like an 80s hair band but retains grit. 

When they tap into giving their thrash tendencies more groove it works best. The deeper into the album you listen the more these moments crop up. When they speed up into more punk-inflected thrash, they are not playing to their strengths as songwriters. They continue to keep their foot to the gas on "Desensitized" .  The album's lyrics are a social commentary that is a pretty fair reflection of the world today. "Your Six' closes the album with a return to the more swampy side of the band which plays to their benefit. I will give this album an 8.5, as I do not feel it is as strong as "Mourn the Southern Skies" , but Kyles's vocals sound great, and this shows how vital they are in today's metal climate, and it captures the mood of the day well. 

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