By this album titlle or the band name I would never guess this is Thrash Metal. I’d say Death Metal for sure if I were asked. My dear child of the night knows my theory about band names. I posit that is possible to know the genre of a band only by its name without listening to it. Not so far from the truth, if you ask me. Well, I was flat wrong. A thing that really happens. This isn’t a hard science at all.
Exorcizphobia were formed in 2005 by Tomas Skorepa (guitar, vocal), Jan Erben (bass) and Jakub Vaclav (drums). This triplet of young and passionate metalheads have started to rehearse covers of their favourite bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Metallica or Slayer. The second guitarist spot was filled by Josef Valkoun the year after. At that time they had composed some of the first own songs and slowly took to the stages of underground parties and local clubs.
When 2009 rolled in, they decided to go to the studio. The result of that session was their first EP called “Disease Inside.“ Next year brought crazy and memorable story that happened at Obscene Extreme Festival. Spike Cassidy, the guitarist of american hardcore punk/ crossover thrash pioneers and headliners of the event – D.R.I., wasn’t able to perform due to serious health issues. Skorepa was picked as a replacement and played the full show with them, just after one busy day of rehearsing.
As an album, I feel the sound of “Spiritual Exodus” a lot under Anthrax’s umbrella. That’s my general impression after hearing tracks as “Down The Rabbit Hole” whose tittle tells a lot about Anthrax’s influence as it falls under their usual umbrella of themes. As an album opener, “Initiation” falls into a pretty deceptive road as its intro takes another totally different road with slow and moody guitars giving a martial mood to the song. The tone of the guitars gets very 1980’s with the use of, I guess, the digital delay pedal effect. that gives that ethereal effect we all know. Slowly the track acquires a heavier tone with hard knocking guitar, slow and moody, but hard as iron. At first, the impression I got “Initiation” would be an instrumental track. From where I’m sitting, it’s the track which sounds the most Anthrax. I really liked the way the guitar duo does the broken and groovy guitar riffing as in “Ring-Pass-Not” with a strong and hard rhthym guitar to giv the heavyness a Metak song needs. By the way, the guitars isn the album are pretty interesting because they do sound as a duo, a very cohesive do if you ask me.
Exorcizphobia are a band with a long time career. It’s possible to feel it by listening to “Spiritual Exodus.” I recommend this album to all Metal fans that appreciate a hard knocking band with some Anthrax flavor.
Exorcizphobia “Spiritual Exodus” was realesed on september 22nd via Doomentia Records.
Track Listing:
- Initiation
- Violence and War
- Reflections
- Down the Rabbit Hole
- Those Who Oppose
- Ring-Pass-Not
- Through a Glass Darkly
- Tiwanaku (Instrumental)
Watch “Reflections” official music video here:
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