Who said concept albums were exclusive to prog bands? If they are, Exhumed didn’t get the memo. Besides, I’d much rather hear 10 tales of meeting one’s demise on the road from them as opposed to Opeth or Porcupine Tree. As someone who almost met a fate similar to the ones explored on these songs roughly a month ago (gotta love those black ice patches in the winter), Red Asphalt, the latest platter of splatter from these gore metal gods, hits much closer to home than I’d like it to…which is perhaps partially why I consider it to be the strongest Exhumed outing in over a decade.
Now before I go any further, let me clarify that I don’t believe Exhumed has a single dud in their catalog. OK, rerecording Gore Metal was a questionable move, but I digress. As far as original studio albums go, this is a band who doesn’t miss. Is their recent output of the same caliber as Gore Metal (1998) or Slaughtercult (2000)? No, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the ever-grizzly shit out of 2022’s To the Dead. That being said, Red Asphalt is most certainly a cut or two above its predecessor, or rather predecessors. The songs are delivered with a greater conviction and urgency than heard on recent Exhumed albums, and the riffs are the most memorable since Necrocracy (2013).
From the opening outburst that is “Unsafe at Any Speed”, it’s all gas, no brakes for this gore gang, pun fully intended. The riffs evoke the grossness of early Carcass, but with the meat and potatoes hooks of bassist/vocalist Ross Sewage’s “other” band, Impaled. This balance between blinding speed and hard-grinding grooves set the stage for this gore-tastic affair. The melodic tinges on the title track evoke shades of Necrocracy, while cuts like “Shock Trauma” and “The Iron Graveyard” are (medical) textbook Exhumed, expanding upon the gore metal frenzy of the opening “Unsafe” and pushing the speedometer to triple digits.
Serving as contrast to these face-melting forays are cuts that incorporate flashes of, dare I say death ‘n’ roll. At least that’s the only way I can describe the likes of “Shovelhead” and “Crawling from the Wreckage” with their lethal low-end and head-bobbing nastiness. Clearly this is a band who draws from ALL eras of Carcass. The gnarly “Signal Thirty” is perhaps my choice cut, coming off as a goregrind-ized spin on retro death-thrash. Meanwhile, “Death on Four Wheels” expands upon that signature Exhumed sound brazenly displayed on the front half, and the thrashing “The Fumes” brings this brutally reckless offering to a crashing close.
Despite their legacy being firmly intact at this point in their career, Exhumed play as if they still have something to prove on Red Asphalt. The songs are unforgettable, the riffage is deadly, and the overall cohesion of the album is undeniable, making gore metal maniacs of all ages eager to spin it again, and again, and again. Having already explored the road, there’s no telling what Exhumed’s next frontier will be. Perhaps the next album will see the band treating us to 10 musical displays of death by aircraft? Until then, as winter continues its unforgiving grip on the nation, be careful: Black ice can turn to red asphalt in a blink.
8 out of 10
Label: Relapse Records
Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore
For fans of: Carcass, Impaled, Ghoul
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