Exocrine - Legend

Angry Metal Guy

Despite the middling average score French tech death quartet Exocrine earned on this here blog, I’m a staunch defender of the band’s style. I loved Molten Giant and The Hybrid Suns musically, and thought Maelstrom was an interesting, albeit flawed, exploration of their established sound. The biggest issue holding them back has always been production, cursed to gasp for breath and struggle for room inside a dense concrete block. It’s a shame because if someone else with a gentler touch helped them out in the mastering suite, I’m convinced Exocrine’s track record on this blog would be a more positive one. I picked up their latest, entitled Legend, in the hopes that it shifts that legacy in the right direction.

Musically, Legend mirrors the brutal, chunky, addicting song structures from The Hybrid Suns, showcasing a band that has found great comfort and nourishment in their current methodology. A clinic in hooky, groovy riffs that motivate the spine to injurious extremes, Legend smashes Gorod swagger and Archspire velocity together with devastating results. Of course, being technical death metal, intricate detailing abounds in the guitar work, with little incidentals and nifty flourishes littering the space between tectonic riffs and staccato breakdowns. Occasional semi-clean choruses more smoothly intertwine with deep roars and high-pitched screams compared to previous efforts, evidencing Exocrine’s dedication to continuous improvement in songwriting.

Legend by Exocrine

It’s that much more of a shame, then, that the production woes cited in my last review remain wholly unaddressed. The claustrophobic mix and master flattens everything such that all of the record’s biggest moments have almost no impact, even with higher-end listening gear (see the dulled bass drops and clicky triggers in “Warlock”). The low end has a decent tone, but no power, and yet the higher frequencies received an insane amount of boost that allows solos and twitchy fret embellishments to pierce through the sonic mash far too sharply (“Eidolon”). Like previous offerings, my promo copy of Legend features fuzzy artifacts in its densest patches, threatening to clip at a moment’s notice. If Exocrine opted for a much less compressed approach that allows them the space required to proudly exhibit all of the wonderful details that they packed into this slab of wild and rabid tech death, maybe listeners could properly appreciate the immense work on display. As is, I feel once again cheated by this overly glossy, grossly compressed product. The longer this trend goes unchecked, the more likely it is that I simply won’t approach future material going forward.

That I feel this way especially hurts because Legend features some of the best writing of Exocrine’s career. Using The Hybrid Suns as their foundation, Exocrine’s riff, lead, and rhythm work here are nothing short of astounding. Anything I encounter in the tech death world rarely grooves as hard as Archspire’s and Gorod’s best, but Sylvain Octor-Perez’s leading licks and Nicolas La Rosa’s momentous themes effortlessly achieve that same level of infallible stride (especially in “Legend,” “Life,” “The Altar of War,” “Warlock,” “Dragon,” and “By the Light of the Pyre”). Meanwhile, Théo Gendron stands out as the driving force behind the record’s various transitions and beats, thrashing his kit like Animal on speed, never missing even one opportunity to elevate this material (“Eidolon,” “The Altar of War,” “Dragon”). Jordy Besse holds his own against the massive talent alongside him, thrumming along exuberantly on his bass guitar while his subterranean gutturals and monstrous roars provide ample vocal hooks with which listeners can gain purchase on this record’s burled surfacing (“Life,” “The Altar of War,” “Cryogenisation”).

Just like in my review for The Hybrid Suns, my rating below seems harsh. However, in the densely crowded and highly competitive field of tech death, it comes down to the fine details. I can find little to criticize on the songwriting front, but Legend suffers immensely from a production that evidences no discernible growth in that category since Molten Giant, released six years ago. There’s no refinement or consideration for the album experience in this mix and master, and it shows in a final product that I am, at this point, truly frustrated with. I want so badly to love this record, as its compositions kick my ass six ways from Sunday. Unfortunately, so does the punishing production. Consequently, I walk away from Legend bruised, battered, and exhausted.

Rating: Mixed
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: exocrine.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Exocrine
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2024

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