Outside of a handful of bands and releases, I have largely abandoned death metal over the last few years. Part of this has to do with what I view as the insipid state of modern death metal. This will be a sweeping over-generalization, but bear with me. On one side of the spectrum, there are bland old-school-inspired (and often hardcore-inspired) death metal bands who represent the metal equivalent of brain rot, and they tend to dominate coverage of the genre. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are tech death metal bands whose overly sterile production and unrepentantly noodly riff salads are automatic turnoffs for me. And then there's Exhumed, who have returned with Red Asphalt, their first full platter of splatter since To The Dead (2022).
Exhumed represents the perfect balance between the two strains of modern death metal—err, excuse me *ahem*….GORE. FUCKING. METAL.—described above. Their albums have always had organic production values that are just the right amount of rough around the edges while still offering sonic clarity. As someone who has seen the band live several times, I can attest to the fact that Exhumed’s albums more closely represent their live sound than almost any other death metal band I’ve seen perform. Compositionally, Exhumed balance thoughtful, relatively catchy songwriting with a propensity for gut-ripping riffs. While certainly not boring, their songs never feel like they’re just being written to impress nerds. Beyond occupying that sweet spot between dummy death metal and overly wrought tech, a large part of the band’s appeal for me is quite simple: Exhumed is good times party death metal. There are simply no other death metal albums that I’d rather throw on at a party other than those produced by Exhumed. To paraphrase Exodus: Exhumed is just good, friendly, violent fun.
While recent releases have been loosely conceptualized around old-school B-horror films and grave-robbing in 19th-century Scotland, Red Asphalt is based on life on the road. Track titles such as “Unsafe at Any Speed,” “Red Asphalt,” “Death on Four Wheels,” and “Shovelhead” (a type of Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine) make this quite clear. But the subtext of the lyrics suggests anxiety and trauma centered on that very lifestyle, and particularly the act of driving. In an interview with Capitol Chaos TV, bassist and vocalist Ross Sewage discusses how guitarist and vocalist Matt Harvey lost control of the band's vehicle on their way home from a show in the 90s, causing serious injury to Sewage. Experiences such as this, as well as the more mundane slime and sleaze of van and gas-station life, color the lyrics of Red Asphalt. “The road is a meat grinder,” according to Sewage. In another interview, he added, “It’s something we think about all of the time while driving a four-ton death vehicle with a trailer attached.”
That sentiment is also reflected in the album’s music. Many of the tracks, such as “Shock Trauma” and “Symphoriphilia,” drive recklessly and murderously forward like Stuntman Mike McKay in Death Proof. It imbues the listeners with feelings of lost control, almost as if they are helpless, unwitting passengers of a demented driver. Nonetheless, tracks such as “Shovelhead” and “Red Asphalt” provide significant amounts of head-nodding groove, putting the brakes on the death-defying speed of the majority of the album. The outsized influence that Carcass has had on Harvey’s style has never been up for debate, but Exhumed seems to lean into Heartwork’s melodic style throughout Red Asphalt. The guitarmonies that open “Red Asphalt,” that introduce the solo in “Unsafe at Any Speed,” and that serve as the bridge in “Shock Trauma” seem right out of Bill Steer and Michael Amott’s blood-soaked playbook. These melodic-driven passages act as a counterbalance to the more aggressive gut-shaking gallops and organ-grinding blasts found throughout much of the album.
Throughout their impressive 35-year career, Exhumed have been remarkably resistant to trends as they’ve taken the road less traveled—one littered with bloody entrails and dismembered limbs. What’s more, their releases have been impressively consistent in quality, even in the face of changing trends in death metal. Red Asphalt is yet another testament to the fact that these horror-obsessed road warriors can come out the other side, bloodied and bruised, with another exceptional death metal release.