*FINALLY* SOME NEW THRASH THAT ISN’T A COMPLETE RE-HASH (RE-THRASH?)

Two readers sent us emails about Exmortus this week so I figured it was probably time to pay attention, and I’m so glad I did. This foursome from Whittier, CA — which is not near San Francisco, mind you — recently signed with Heavy Artillery Records, and will be releasing their new album In Hatred’s Flames on July 29th.

What’s different about Exmortus is that they’re clearly influenced by thrash to a large degree but don’t go out of their way to beat this fact into your brain; yeah, they’re very young and they sport ebay-bought band t-shirts, but they aren’t afraid to stray from the vintage thrash metal canon. There are elements of death, prog, and neo-classical metal mixed in with a healthy dose of Metallica and Megadeth riffage. In short, this is actually a fresh brew of neo-thrash for a change, one that is VERY welcome to these thrash-revival-saturated ears. And the dudes can fucking PLAY, too. Come to think of it, this band reminds me of God Forbid in certain ways. It’s just METAL.

Have a listen on their MySpace page and you’ll be sold too.

-VN