EXHUMED decided to do something not so uncommon these days for legendary bands: re-record an old classic like “Gore Metal“. Usually there are tribute (like Exodus did for Paul Baloff with “Let There Be Blood”), production (Suffocation with “Breeding The Spawn”) or just nostalgia reasons. For Exhumed, it’s the second: they claimed they were not that satisfied with the overall sound of the album and glad they had the chance to correct those production flaws.
There are two sides in this story that we have to take a good look on. The first one is the old school of grindcore fans that’ll think that this release is either a cash-grab or a release delaying the upcoming record (whenever that may come out). Cash grab, it is not, since a strong number of long time fans didn’t quite enjoy albums like “Necrocracy” for various reasons, so I don’t think they’ll ever buy this one, which basically presents “Gore Metal” in its 2015 form. And for those who say it “corrupts the bands’ history” I don’t think so, the history is always there, regardless of the re-recordings. Cash grabs usually include high prices, but this one has the cost of an actual CD, so the answer is once more, no.
The second side is the new school of grindcore fans, who are maybe more used to solid modern productions and would like to hear something close to their previous experience with Exhumed both productionwise and musicwise. Well, to them I say this, listen to the original before judging which one suits you better. And try to understand its importance for the genre it’s in, it’s of major significance for you as a listener to know your history, especially for the bands you follow. So. since I’m mostly in the new schools’ point of view, my way was to listen to both and compare, (original being the first one).
If you’re wondering why I didn’t mention the content of the album that much, is because this album is a crushing grindcore classic as it is, there’s no other way of putting it. However, I believe that the later-Carcass influenced sound of Exhumed on albums like “Necrocracy” (2013) (which I thoroughly enjoyed) fits this album perfectly and makes it more audible that it was before. It’s a really good retrospective on a classic of the Exhumed catalogue, take it or leave it, you should already know my choice by now.
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