Exocrine – Molten Giant (Unique Leader)
Sunday, 5th August 2018
When it comes to concept albums, there’s always a wide array of choices depending on your particular flavor of metal. Some are historical and grandiose, where others dive further into fantasy and/or science fiction. In what seems to be straight out of a summer popcorn flick, Exocrine’s Molten Giant tells the tale of giant lava monster (think along the lines of Godzilla) and the surviving human race. Big, abrasive, and completely in your face – much like Exocrine’s musical attack.
Sure to bring out the tech-death fans in droves, Exocrine has some wildly intricate material that they successfully dip into. They can pull out some truly frantic stuff, even when they reach across an 8-minute track, like the closing “Shape of New World,” but they find plenty of other ways to keep it interesting, even for those who aren’t tech-aficionados. Firing alongside the technical chops are a number of melodies and grooves to latch onto. It’s here that Exocrine show their strength and higher level of formidability above many others in the genre. It’s rather catchy stuff when you get into it. “Scorched Human Society” may start out with musical fireworks that fans of The Faceless and Necrophagist are bound to drool over, but melodies begin to sneak in, as well as balance out the tempo as the song progresses. Monster grooves cut their way across the track, and a richly technical yet melodic solo and even some acoustic guitar await further down the line. Mind you, this is only the opening track, and the rest of the album follows suit with this same level of diversity to accompany the dizzying technical merits.
Exocrine is fully aware that a full-blown tech explosion isn’t going to be enough to make a strong album, and Molten Giant is strengthened by its use of melody and groove. It’s a combination that more bands in this genre are beginning to utilize more, and for good reason. There’s all the musical insanity that one can crave, but it’s a bit more digestible and less mechanical than a straight-forward approach. In keeping with the monster movie theme, it’s thoroughly entertaining.
