Exhumed
All Guts, No Glory

July 2011
Released: 2011, Relapse Records
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz

In a year where many of my favorite bands have either defecated all over their legacy with craptastic new music, or have been content to ride the mediocre express to blahsville, my appreciation for an album like ALL GUTS, NO GLORY grows exponentially with each listen. Rising from the grave with their first new album of original material in 8 years, Exhumed have cherry picked the best elements from their extensive history for a goreific masterpiece. Taking the HEARTWORK inspired melody of ANATOMY IS DESTINY, the speed and intensity of SLAUGHTERCULT, the classic riffs of GORE METAL and the musical sensibility that comes with age and experience, ALL GUTS, NO GLORY is a phenomenal example of metal done right.



ALL GUTS, NO GLORY is 100% free of filler. At a scant 33-minute run time, Exhumed doesn’t waste an inch of space on the album, but the 11 tracks on the album deliver a more concentrated wallop than many albums twice its play time. The opening title track serves as an intro, steadily building with a cloud of feedback, crunch and whammy bar dive bombs before charging head first into the manic volley of “As Hammer to Anvil,” which quickly whips into “Your Funeral, My Feast.” The tracks reek of classic Exhumed death metal, but they also show the band’s renewed emphasis on melody. These kind of Steer/Amott flavored guitar harmonies were prevalent on the band’s later releases, but they never sounded as effective as they do here. Their inclusion throughout the 11 tracks provides some extra body and personality to an already healthy batch of songs.



ALL GUTS, NO GLORY really hits its stride as the album progresses. The macabre cadence of “Through Cadaver Eyes” is counterbalanced by the blitzing of “Death Knell,” and the anthemic “I Rot Within” is my personal favorite on the disc. “Dis-Assembly Line” reminded me of Zetro –era Exodus in spots, while “Funereality” has some definite Carcass worship in it. And the closing “So Let it Be Rotten…” gets progressively more frenzied as the song progresses, like a car speeding towards the edge of a cliff only to slam on the brakes at the last second to avert disaster. Musically, the songs feel meatier and more complex than on past releases, but I think much of that credit is due to the album’s weighty production.



So what’s the catch? There isn’t one, ALL GUTS, NO GLORY is a bloody good time through and through. Exhumed have risen from the grave like a rotting, zombified Christ figure, come to save the metal world in its most dire hour of need, and in the process dropped a record that not only bests their own catalog but that of their peers. Yes, it’s that good. ALL GUTS, NO GLORY is available July 5th through Relapse Records in a variety of enticing packages. The saw is back…

Exhumed
All Guts, No Glory

July 2011
Released: 2011, Relapse
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: JP

Exhumed has been exhumed! ALL GUTS, NO GLORY is their first full-length studio album in eight years! The band hasn’t been really that productive as this is only the 5th (or 4th depending how you count) studio album in 20 years. They messed around a bit in the past few years with a pair of covers albums, but the band really needed to stop messing around and put out a raging album, which they did.



It’s a great record, a nice little 35-minute collection of 11 cuts of carnage. It’s a bit more modern sounding perhaps than their older albums. The modern production is razor sharp and skull frying as well. The band has pretty much abandoned their gore-grind past, which is fine, it’s still shreds flesh from a mile away. Now there is a bit more of a modern death-thrash feel to the songs and some really fast, clean soloing. This is probably the most even blending of Death and Thrash the band has attempted. I personally think it sounds great and they haven’t sacrificed brutality one bit.



The dual vocal attack is in full force and the patented humour and sense of fun is still in place, perhaps at the expense of some of the more explicit gore-based lyrics. Even the album cover is a bit more tongue in cheek and less horrific than the past few. It’s pretty relentless in terms of pace, delivery and execution. A lot of people have passed through the band over the years and the face of heavy music has changed as well so I’m not shocked that the band has evolved. The news guys are in again, out again as people come and go.



I’m sure a few die-hards will not like the new direction, but I doubt Matt really cares at this point. He made his mark on extreme music 20 years ago with a pair of landmark albums, all the rest is just bloody chunks of gravy.