Exoto - Beyond the Depths of Hate (2014)mp3

Exoto

Beyond the Depths of Hate

(2014)



From Metal-Archives

A 17 track album containing newly re-recorded tracks from the demos, the first 2 studio albums and brand new songs. The album comes as a limited edition digipack.


Wade Reitz wrote:
One advantage to writing for ThisIsNotAScene is that I am exposed to bands I might not normally have a chance to be exposed to. Both a blessing and a curse. Not just because I do not have a frame of reference for some of the bands that I choose to review. Sometimes, like in this case with the Belgian death metal band Exoto, I can barely find any background information on the band. From what I can gather, the band was formed in Mol, Antwerp, in 1989. They put out a few demos between 1990 and 1992 before releasing their first full length album in 1994 titled “Carnival of Souls.” Exoto released a second album in 1995 titled “A Thousand Dreams Ago.” Sometime after its release the band broke up. Then, in 2012, the band reformed. “Beyond the Depths of Hate,” released on Vic Records October 7, 2014, is the product of that reformation.

“Beyond the Depths of Hate” is, for all intents and purposes, an Exoto greatest hits collection. Out of the seventeen tracks on the album, twelve are from the band’s previous recordings. Minus the intro, the weird interlude ‘Into the Final Chapter,’ and outro, the remaining two new tracks were recorded by the reformed band for this release. I am not sure if the old songs were re-mastered, or if Exoto traveled back in time to record the new tracks, but somehow the album sounds like all the songs were recorded at the same time. That’s not a bad thing! The album has a good clean analog sound, and all instruments are represented well in the mix.

It’s not just the sound quality of the album that takes you back to the early days of death metal. The two new songs on ‘Beyond the Depths of Hate,’ the title track, and ‘Culture of Death,’ sound like they could have come from any of Exoto’s original demos. Flip Boonen and Wilek lay down Grave-like riffs over Molly’s popping snare blasts. Chris Meynen’s vocals haven’t lost a step over the years. They are still as raspy and demonic as ever.

I am not sure if “Beyond the Depths of Hate” is a reintroduction to Exoto or the final curtain call. The band still has the Facebook page that helped reunite them, and they also have a Reverbnation profile. Either way, “Beyond the Depths of Hate” is a great representation of Exoto’s past, present, and possible future.


Metal Archives wrote:
The mighty “Art of Butchery” made me prostrate - 95%
morbert, November 10th, 2008

What we have here are two songs from their “The Fifth Season” demo, released on a 7”. Who do I review this EP then instead on the demo? I’d say because you, the reader, will have more success finding the EP than the original tape. Maybe I’ll review the tape as well, someday. Not now.

Exoto were a death metal band. Yet they were different in a way. They weren’t actually brutal. Nor were their early releases heavy or grim. But their songs were extremely dynamic, intelligent and energetic. The performance was amazing. The guitars are more thrash metal orientated and the drums… well, all I can I say is that if Didier Mertens hadn’t died in a car crash and would’ve played on their full length albums, the band might have become huge success.

That’s quite a large statement, I know. A drummer alone can’t make a band, obviously. But I did hear the version of “Art of Butchery” on their debut album “Carnival Of Souls” and compared to this version it lacked a lot in terms of speed and aggression. Didier Mertens’ fast, tight and energetic performance here is mindblowing!

Apart from the speed and drums especially “Art of Butchery” is a masterfully contrived piece of musical art and shows the band as a whole consists of more than competent musicians. The song begins slowly and eerie and then goes through all paces without losing grip on the song and the story it tells. If I were to make a list of the 20 best death metal songs ever written, this song would be on the list. Yes, seriously, the song is THAT GOOD! It is death metal art in its most intrinsic meaning.

MEMBERS:
Vic van der Steen Bass
See also: Faal
Molly Drums
See also: Exterminator, ex-Contr-X, ex-Pathology, ex-Aura
Flip Boonen Guitars
See also: ex-Ambush, ex-Nation
Wilek Guitars
Chris Meynen Vocals


TRACKS:
1. Happiness & Hate (Intro) 01:06
2. Beyond the Depths of Hate 03:33
3. Necromantic Love-Affair 05:39
4. Final Discorporation 04:26
5. Cannibalistic 04:28
6. Into the Final Chapter 01:32
7. The Fifth Season 04:27
8. Culture of Death 04:05
9. The World Before You 04:26
10. Loss of Identity 02:30
11. Waiting for the Maggots 04:16
12. Escape the Eternal Sleep 04:08
13. Waveyard 03:01
14. Thoughts 03:21
15. Art of Butchery 07:23
16. After Death 02:46
17. Ending the Dark Matter (Outro) 01:16
TOTAL: 01:02:23

DISCOGRAPHY:
Waiting for the Maggots Demo 1990
And Then You Die Demo 1991
The Fifth Season Demo 1992
Ashes... Single 1992
Carnival of Souls Full-length 1994
A Thousand Dreams Ago Full-length 1995
Beyond the Depths of Hate Full-length 2014


PREVIEW:



Donate to RockBox.


Genre: Death
Subgenre: Thrash
Bitrate: 320 k
Size: 144.63 MB
Show/Hide Files:
19 files