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Exeloume: Fairytale of Perversion

Thrash/Death Metal

3.0/5.0

Vicisolum Productions
Website MySpace
by Craig Hartranft,  05.02.2011

Pure old school. Norway's Exeloume revisits early Eighties thrash and blends it with late Eighties death metal. And they sufficiently nail this hybrid on their debut Fairytale of Perversion. Intense, foreboding, and punishing would be good words to describe this work.

Being too heavy on the death metal side possibly cripples this work. Old school thrash metal, even with its intensity, never abandoned melody, and Exeloume shows some of that: witness Ignorance Is Bliss. Even death metal can offer some harmony, and Exeloume comes close on the title track. Mostly, it seems that the band wants to prove that they can be fast, brutal, and deliberate at the expense of the very roots they wish to invoke. Nevertheless, Exeloume offers real promise: there's a technicality here that really remembers the roots of thrash/death metal.

Ultimately, with the intensity of their thrash and death metal, Exeloume becomes monotonous. They pummel with no purpose than to, well, pummel. Thanks to some sound and fiery fret work from lead guitarist Andre Ulriksen, Fairytale of Perversion becomes curiously palatable, but very predictable. I'm still unconvinced: real heavy metal still requires some modicum of melody. Exeloume is good at giving you thrash metal that beats you down with vicious aggression. Is that the substance of true metal? I don't think so. Metallica or Megadeth, they are not. But, in these days, 'metal' casts a wide net.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Exeloume is good at giving you thrash metal that beats you down with vicious aggression. Is that the substance of true metal? I don't think so. Metallica or Megadeth, they are not. But, in these days, 'metal' casts a wide net.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]