Ride Forth Exmortus 2016 Prosthetic Records Exmortus are a great underrated American metal band. Towing the line between good old fashioned Thrash Metal and Neoclassical with Death Metal style vocals. Ride Forth is Exmortus’ fourth release and their second since their move to Prosthetic Records. The sound of Exmortus is fantastic, imagine Jeff Becerra from Possessed singing for Yngwie Malmsteen and you start to get an idea of how Exmortus sound. Lyrically, Exmortus revolve around battles, barbarians and heroic deeds and that is absolutely fine, sword and sorcery themes are brilliant when done correctly and Exmortus manage to easily bow to the likes of Manowar and continue where they left off. High praise indeed. Ride Forth was produced by Zach Ohren, a name that was unfamiliar, until after some research and Facebook stalking. Ohren has produced Ride Forth well enough, although nothing special, Ride Forth is pleasing to listen to sounding as if it was 1988 with a modern touch. Each instrument can be heard clearly, showcasing the talent that Exmortus have within their ranks and that is a testament to Ohren’s production. Exmortus kick off Ride Forth with an absolute blinder. Speed of the Strike sets the tone and bar for the rest of the album and it is no doubt why Exmortus chose Speed of the Strike. Speed of the Strike is laden with hooks, but what makes the record is the stop-start when Conan growls the speed of the strike! Although, For the Horde does contain Whiplash! Hackslash! All is burned to ash! Pure metal goodness. Ride Forth pardon the pun is relentless, each song gallops forward and Hymn of Hate oozes classic Malmsteen. The middle section in Hymn of Hate is fantastic, although, it has overtones of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and that took awhile to figure out, but it’s great, it has you humming along subconsciously and other than Speed of the Strike, Hymn of Hate is easily the best song on Ride Forth. No album of this genre or stature would be complete without an instrumental and Appassionata is an absolutely brilliant piece of talent, easily the best instrumental in the last 5 years, possibly more. The guitars of Conan and David Rivera work in tandem, playing off each other, trading off, taking turns and with harmonies that made Iron Maiden so loveable in the early 80s. The bass of Michael Cosio accents and melodically drives the guitars forward without just bashing the root notes and once more, done in a style that would make Steve Harris proud. Appassionata gives way to Death to Tyrants and once again is a show case of the fast harmonies that Rivera and Conan are capable of playing and is a pure joy to listen, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you found yourself playing air guitar at all with Ride Forth playing. Ride Forth has a wicked album cover, as do all Exmortus album covers to be honest, it is reminiscent of Manowar whilst having overtones of Games Workshop’s Warhammer models for the Vampire Counts. Which leads to me to ask the question, is the song For the Horde a nod to the Horde faction on World of Warcraft? Because if so, kudos. Once more Exmortus have come up with the goods, as mentioned at the start of the review, Exmortus are a massively underrated band. Just like Blaze Bayley’s Infinite Entanglement, Ride Forth is another dark horse for a contender for a top 10 album of the year slot. It has been an absolute pleasure to purchase and review Ride Forth, hopefully on the back of Ride Forth, Exmortus will release some UK and European tour dates. 8/10 Adam Let Us Roam (Exmortus)
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