EXHORDER – Defectum Omnium

RELEASE YEAR: 2024

BAND URL: https://www.exhorder.com/

And you will hear wars nearby and reports of wars far away. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must come to pass, but it is not yet the end. For group will rise against group, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginning of birth pains – Matthew 24:6-8, REV

Let’s face it: Exhorder is not likely to record anything as ground breaking and shaking as either Slaughter In The Vatican¹⁹⁹⁰ or The Law¹⁹⁹², but they can make pretty good thrash groove metal they had pioneered with their Get Rude¹⁹⁸⁶ demo which may have inspired the likes of Pantera or Prong (the latter less likely given that Prong¹⁹⁸⁶ demo release that same year). Exhorder’s frontman, current Trouble vocalist Kyle Daniel Thomas (1985-1994, 1998, 2003, 2008-2011, 2017-vocalist; 2020-guitarist), claims to have been most influenced by Corrosion Of Conformity’s 2nd album, Animosity¹⁹⁸⁵, and, having listened to it prior to writing this review, I totally agree. So it doesn’t surprise me that these two bands: Pantera and pre-Pepper Keenan on vocals Corrosion Of Conformity are the biggest influences on this, Exhorder’s 4th full length, Defectum Omni²⁰²⁴ released on March 8th via Nuclear Blast. The album may not be their best but it’s certainly the most varied and creative work in Exhorder’s discography, especially after good but one-dimensional Mourn The Southern Skies²⁰¹⁹.

Exhorder were founded in 1985 by Thomas, David Main (guitars) Vinnie LaBella (guitars bass) Andres “Andy” Villafarra (bass) and Chris Nail (drums), and in that line up they recorded two demos: Get Rude¹⁹⁸⁶ and Slaughter In The Vatican¹⁹⁸⁷ and two, now legendary albums: Slaughter In The Vatican¹⁹⁹⁰ (on R/C Records) (featuring a cover of the pope getting ready to be publically hung) and The Law¹⁹⁹² (on Roadrunner Records) before disbanding in 1994 for about 4 years. Reunions in 1998, 2003 and 2008 only produced the compilation consisting of “Slaughter” and “The Law” (2003) but no new material and the band broke up again 2011 only to finally emerge with Thomas the only remaining founder joined by former Grip Inc. and Heathen bassist Jason Viebrooks (2017-bass) and former Forbidden and Novembers Doom drummer Sasha Horn (2017-drums) for the 3rd album, “Mourn The Southern Skies” which brought back some aspect of the 1992 sound with strong Pantera-ic groove, an album which surprised no one. Then, in 2024, former (early) Nevermore and Cannibal Corpse guitarist Patrick Quinn “Pat” O’Brien (2024-lead guitars) and the quintet recorded “Defectum Omnium”.

“Defectum Omnium” is Latin for “failure of all”, a title which reminds me of Marillion’s Fugazi¹⁹⁸⁴, which was a somewhat military term signifying total failure, but while Marillion’s was a moral failure as depicted on the cover, Exhorder, mind you, a band whose motto was once the Alistair Crawleyan “do as thou willt shall be the whole of the law”, clearly alludes to the end times, even waxing a bit Biblical with the opening “Wrath Of Prophecies” as if to confirm the words of my Lord Jesus Christ I opened this review with, a fantastic track and a perfect opener which showcases the songwriting ability that was, in my view, missing from the predecessor. I smiled when I heard “Under The Gaslight” because it sounds so much like Testament’s “Evil Has Landed” it had to be on purpose, especially with words “evil hides under the gaslight” rhythimically sung in the similar fashion, but it didn’t stop me from calling it the only perfect song on the album and not just because it seems to describe struggles in relationships with people possessed by narcissistic personality disorder, a fight I am all too familiar with. True to the blueprint, which to me is obviously Pantera’s Vulgar Display Of Power¹⁹⁹² meeting Corrosion Of Conformity’s Deliverance¹⁹⁹⁴ both of which they helped influence, Exhorder structures this album very well, as if it were an encyclopedia of heavy metal, two midpaced thrashers before a fast hard core punk of “Forever And Beyond Despair” (about the American-led industrial military complex) strongly reminiscent of “_Hostile” or “Rise” off of “Vulgar” which then naturally slows down for a balladic “The Tale Of Unsound Minds” (with an excellent riff evocative of Metallica’s “Devil Dance”) and then back to thrash with “Divide And Conquer” (with separation of church and state so clouded that one wonders if God should stay or go), and the pattern repeats, which makes for a better and more varied experience. As for the slow and very heavy slowburning ballads, there are obvious influences of Black Sabbath and Corrosion Of Conformity but the clear Alice In Chains grunge (“Year Of The Goat” where I agree that it’s better to lose a friend than to feed an enemy again, except I propose to include spouses), complete with Thomas’ late Layne Staley’s impersonation, is a first for the band and so are his “air siren” Bruce Dickinsonian highs toward the end of “Defectum Omnium/Stolen Hope”, a track featuring the brilliant truth “hunting the witch is easy, it’s catching her that’s hard” which, again, rings true to personal experience, and which, notabene, starts out with…Gregorian chants (no, Thomas doesn’t perform them), a second shocker, again, from a band that used to call Alistair Crawley’s law superior to the laws of the land, or, rather, held that the former brought forth better fruit (The Law) and had titles such as “I Am The Cross” or “Unborn Again” with lyrics critical, dismissive of, and even hostile to Christianity. However, “Sedition”, doubtless alluding to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021 perpetrated by (to borrow from Rudyard Kipling’s novel title) a man who would be king (thank you, U.S. Supreme Court), brings a second smile to my face with the words “when sedition takes the crown” or “coup d’etat is just a nice way of saying revolution’s on”, but it must be said that Thomas doesn’t seem to take sides here but speaks more as a cynical observer.

With most tracks fully deserving of the final score, there are, unfortunately, three that don’t quite jive with me: the aforementioned “Forever And Beyond Despair”, and the two closing the album, “Desensitized” (about the worldwide empathy famine) and “Your Six”, which give an impression that, at over 54 minutes of length, the album could have benefited from some trimming, but I am, overall impressed and I can finally say what I couldn’t with the predecessor, THE Exhorder is back!