Album Review: Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns (Unique Leader Records)

French masters of technical death metal, Exocrine, will release their full-length album The Hybrid Suns via Unique Leader Records on the 17th of June 2022. A concept album studying the voyage between life and death.

A concept that is simply vast, Exocrine deliver it through a frantic and frenzied display of sharp, technical and cinematically-tinged death metal. A chance for them to show just how creative they can be, The Hybrid Suns can be called a lot of things.

Blistering. Brash. Bullish. Ballsy. Frenetic. Ferocious. Fancy. Astute. Analytical. Aggressive.

Whatever word you can think of to describe a pummelling, unforgiving and technical marvel of death metal will suffice here. Such is the wide and varied lengths that Exocrine go too.

It’s all out intensity from the very start and this band refuse to let up. It’s a very fast and heavy album with that aspect just as heightened regardless of the layers most tracks have. We’re not just talking about the technical wizardry that comes from the guitars either. We’re talking about the carefully utilised effects that give this a grander edge and make the concept all the more real. We’re talking about the use of female vocals in and around the snarling, guttural horror show that is the male vocals. It’s this stuff that makes The Hybrid Suns all the more enjoyable to listen too.

Which it really is. A super enjoyable listen that delivers on the needs of tech-death aficionados while still having enough challenging parts to not let it wash over with little impact. An album of repeat listens, simply so you can unpack the detail and unpick the nuances. The first few go arounds will likely leave you with ringing in your ears because of the gurning aggression, but bit by bit, like the journey between life and death, things become more open and freer. Enjoy it while you can.

Exocrine have raised the bar for technical death metal, a bar that was already pretty damn high.

Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns Full Track Listing:

1. The Hybrid Suns
2. Dying Light
3. Horns
4. Watchtower
5. Vortex of Shadow
6. End of Time
7. Burning Sand
8. Blast
9. Shrine

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