ALBUM REVIEW: Šahrartu – Eximperitus

Belarus’ EXIMPERITUS [aka EXIMPERITUSERQETHHZEBIBŠIPTUGAKKATHŠULWELIARZACUŁUM] initially garnered international attention due to their exceedingly long and impossible to pronounce name, but luckily the band had some exceptionally huge talent to associate with the huge name. Blending the more technical and brutal aspects of death metal together since their debut demo, Triumpho Tenebrarum in Profundis Mors, in 2011, and have only gone from strength to strength since, gradually tightening and improving on their already impressive sound with each subsequent record. Their latest, second full length, Šahrartu, sees the band’s style shifts towards a much more diverse and melodic approach, without sacrificing any of the brutality.

Šaqummatu is an incredibly strong instrumental piece, with dark, foreboding guitar hooks and steady drums setting a sinister and eerie tone right out of the gate. Where the first track was slow and brooding, Utpāda far more driven, with a muscular guitar tone and thunderous percussive undercurrent giving this an intense feel. The lead melodies, dense gutturals and effective, acoustic outro really add to the songs appeal, with a few chaotic flourishes thrown into the mix for good measure, making for a powerful, and oftentimes fierce, track that perfectly translates the the melancholic elements of its predecessor to a meatier death metal offering.

Tahâdu seems to be a more visceral and aggressive number, with a tighter, more speed-driven sound and chunkier riffs adding a huge groove to everything, with a few dissonant, melodic parts peppered liberally throughout. The song’s second half, which injects a bit of reverb to the vocals, morphs this song into an atmospheric, but still ferocious, affair that raises the bar for the rest of the album significantly.

Anhutu utilises massive, jarring chords and a measured pace, with great effect, applying the deeply engrossing and varied approach of the previous song to the proceedings, punctuated by brilliantly coarse, cacophonous sections, resulting in a song that is every bit as rabid as it grandiose, with the sound incorporating everything from traditional death metal to beefy, slam moments.

Inqirad is the album’s utterly monolithic climax, initially has a more doom-laden feel, with the plodding, melody driven guitars quickly giving way to a fuller, rhythmic sound that works extremely well, and manages to keep the music captivating despite being quite repetitive at points. The unhinged, discordant guitar solo that comes into play later in the song is a fantastic addition, and adds a feral edge to what is, for the most part, a very bombastic and restrained piece of music. The ambient passage that closes this track segues straight into Riqûtu, a track that differs drastically from the rest of the album, with less pronounced guitars, no vocals or drums, acting a a short instrumental piece that serves as a great conclusion to this impressive record.

Comparing this album to EXIMPERITUS‘ earlier work, it’s clear that there’s been a distinct move from the dense, brutal death metal style of their earlier records in favour of an incredibly catchy and melody-driven one, and it’s a change that works really well. There’s still plenty of magnificent technical flourishes and unerring aggression on display, but the band have managed to balance this with lots of imaginative and memorable hooks that trims away what little fat there was in the band’s sound, and placing Šahrartu head and shoulders above its predecessors, which, for a band with an already amazing body of work behind them, says a lot. It’s a strong statement of intent that will hopefully see EXIMPERITUS take their place at the forefront of the international technical death metal scene.

Rating: 8/10

Šahrartu is out now via Willowtip Records.

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