ALBUM REVIEW: Exist Immortal – Exist Immortal
Is it finally time to give EXIST IMMORTAL their due? The five-piece have been churning out progressive-minded metalcore for years and won some major kudos with their three-part Triptych release in 2021. Those EPs were impressive, but this new full-length is really quite special. Since their early days as part of the burgeoning tech-metal scene, they’ve evolved and now resemble the successors to bands like SCAR SYMMETRY and MUTINY WITHIN. They deal in songs that are catchy as hell but have genuine depth behind the hooks.
It helps that they have a remarkably talented singer in their ranks. Meyrick de la Fuente has an astonishingly good voice, handling the soaring melodicism and gravel-throated roars with equal aplomb. It’s no wonder he’s up front and centre of the production, he sounds formidable. And despite sharing the mic with several guest singers, he’s never outshone.
That isn’t to say EXIST IMMORTAL are a one-man show, everyone involved plays with noticeable enthusiasm. Their vocalist is the star, but the musicianship is fine-tuned and confident, and it results in a string of utter bangers. Behind The Eyes is a tuneful opener that mixes thunderous mosh moments and a sugar-coated chorus, but the album really comes to life with Signal Fire. The lads hit the proverbial bullseye with some explosive power chords, a dramatic guitar solo and a phenomenal lead hook. It’s the kind of instant single that would have KILLSWITCH ENGAGE nodding in approval, even while wondering if they’d pinched one of their song titles.
It faces stiff competition for the ‘best track’ award however. All The Same proves you can do decent metalcore with barely any harsh singing before Dilan Alves of HARBINGER appears to turn On The Wire into a veritable headbutt of a song. Best of the bunch though is Emerge, which starts out resembling a ballad, only to quickly turn into a wildly optimistic and hopeful epic. It’s a life-affirming and hugely enjoyable track, and the only real mistake is not letting it be the finisher. Instead, it’s the penultimate act, and Casting Eyes rounds things off. It’s a decent finale and it has a great cameo from Luke Griffin of ACRANIA, but it just isn’t as dramatic as the preceding number.
Ultimately though, this album is a highly engaging piece of work from a skilled and underrated band. It’s also notable that unlike some of their peers, EXIST IMMORTAL place greater emphasis on clean singing than harsh. It makes them very easy to get into, and fans of more melodic metal will love this. Cynics might argue there are too many guest vocalists, or that it’s not as prog-minded as they’d like, but these are middling issues. This is just shy of an hour and it absolutely flies by; EXIST IMMORTAL just threw down a gauntlet.
Rating: 8/10
Exist Immortal is set for release on October 14th via Seek And Strike.
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