ALBUM REVIEW: Mourn The Southern Skies – Exhorder

Considered pioneers of what would become groove metal, and later influencing the iconic New Orleans metal scene and heavy metal greats like PANTERA, Louisiana’s EXHORDER have perhaps not received the plaudits as they have deserved. Missing out on their place in the sun, their disbandment in 1994 felt like the band were more of a flash in the pan, rather than being the influential figures they strived to be. Now though, after several reunion tours, their first album in 27 years, Mourn The Southern Skies, is here.

Recharged and reignited, Mourn The Southern Skies picks up directly where 1992’s The Law left off. Raw, abrasive and packed to the brim with killer riffing, EXHORDER explode back into life as opener My Time sets an immediate precedent for the tone and feel of the record. Iconic groove-laden riffing from guitarists Vinnie LaBella and Marzi Montazeri dominate proceedings whilst Kyle Thomas‘ vocals are fuelled with aggression and bite roar above the musical carnage. It’s high octane thrash-driven fun and a clear statement that EXHORDER are back in business.

Across Mourn The Southern Skies, EXHORDER continue to display that any lingering cobwebs are blown away as the momentum rarely dips across the album’s ten tracks. Asunder‘s delightful swinging grooves in the riff department is an instant ear-worm that plays delightfully well off the mid-tempo stomp and anthemic chorus whilst Hallowed Sound dives headfirst into thrash territory as Thomas‘ commanding vocals drive home the hammer-blow. Similarly, the sheer ferocity in which the band show on Beware The Wolf packs enough force to level a city and the staggering seven-minute epic Yesterday’s Bones boasts some of the best lead-work on the entire record. It’s moments here which show that EXHORDER are back with a bang and you’ll surely welcome them with open arms.

And yet, for all that Mourn The Southern Skies does right, the record is not without its problems. Despite Yesterday’s Bones boasting some sensational leads, the unnecessary acoustic outro kills the momentum flat and just feels packed in for the sake of it. Although the grooves of follow-up track, All She Wrote, ensures the record picks up the pace in an instant and gets things back on track, you can’t help but wonder what was the point in such an unnecessary acoustic segment. Rumination is largely a forgettable number save for an expertly dispatched solo, Arms of Man never really gets going as its ploddy mid-tempo pacing just feels flat and the title-track finale, although epic in both its length and musical scope, just feels like it could have benefited from more time in the editing room as it slightly overstays its welcome. Despite these shortcomings however, they are just but a blemish on an strong comeback effort from EXHORDER.

In an age where reunions and reboots are more common than patch jackets at a metal show, the return of EXHORDER may perhaps not be heralded as such a big occasion as it would have maybe a decade earlier. Nevertheless, after such a long time out of action, Mourn The Southern Skies is a defiant and confident return from the Louisiana metallers. Whilst it may be bloated in places and it won’t certainly reinvent the wheel for heavy music, EXHORDER know what works for them and they have delivered a feast of adrenaline inducing thrash. The result is one hell of a good time.

Rating: 7/10

Mourn The Southern Skies is set for release on September 20th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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