You know that phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Sometimes it’s totally okay to do that. With a name like Exumer, releasing an album entitled ‘Fire & Damnation’, you’re already fairly ready for what you’re going to be served up – 2nd generation “Big 4”-era Bay Area thrash, whose audience comprises of “that shifty-looking guy” in his 30s with waist-length hair, who still goes to metal clubs with the sole intention of windmilling said locks to ‘Raining Blood. Probably.
Having reformed in 2008 after an 18 (!!!) year break, this sees Exumer release their first effort in 25 years, and it’s not clear whether they realise music has moved on since then. It sounds a little like if Fry from Futurama was played by Tom Araya, frozen cryogenically and thawed to create a record hilariously mired in the past. Sure, thrash metal hasn’t exactly reinvented the wheel in that time, but the difference is bands like Municipal Waste and 3 Inches Of Blood fly the flag, and their brilliance lies in their over-the-top approach to thrash’s oafish cliches and total abandonment of self-regard. Exumer, in keeping with the stereotype of their homeland Germany, fail to take themselves with a pinch of salt and this becomes dour, lifeless musical wallpaper quickly enough.
There are very few saving graces; the refrain of “waking the fi-YAH” in ‘Waking The Fire’ is kinda fun, and ‘Vermin Of The Sky’ is reminiscent of Death Angel at their very best, but this is a wholly worthless retread of your old Slayer, Testament and Exodus records. Which makes me think – in 25 years, these guys must’ve got jobs, started families, and even moved out of their parents’ basement – so why bother to violate the ghost of past glories? Avoid like the plague.
OLLIE CONNERS