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I was excited when I saw a new Exhorder album was coming out, especially after seeing them live in Boston last year—cool set that you can see on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/i156jq9vE_E?si=F7wPfyR-nJAbyZSO. After several listens, the excitement has died down quite a bit. Not that this is bad, but Exhorder have taken more of a modern turn for this album, and I find it ends up sounding more like newer bands that draw influences from the mid to late-90s, and that's not the best period to draw influences from. But at least it's Exhorder we're talking about here, so for the most part the album is quite listenable, except for a few tracks that don't even sound like you're still listening to the same album. Having listened to a couple of older albums, including Slaughter in the Vatican, I'd say this is an odd mix of that album, their 2019 album, Mourn the Southern Skies, and that modern catchy yet indigestible stuff that was polluting the air waves mostly in the late '90s. So it's very hit and miss.

Even though I don't "feel" the songs here, there are still some good moments to be found within a good bunch of them, be it a good strong, thrashy riff, a swirling solo or even a powerful vocal line that really stands out. Some songs start really well and make you think you're on the way to hearing something great, but then it morphs into that modern style again. I surprised myself giving this quite a few listens only to hear the really cool parts again, where I thought this sounded most like Exhorder. Ultimately, between the more modern approach and some unevenness due to some songs that just don't sound like they belong with the rest, I think I'll stick to their older material. Your mileage may vary.