By Andrew Bansal
After marauding audiences across North America and beyond and coming off the back of a highly successful year of 2013, Northern California goregrind masters Exhumed are now ready to unleash a split 12-inch EP with Virginia crossover thrash/punk outfit Iron Reagan, who enjoyed an equally eventful 2013. This vinyl-only release is hitting the stores today January 7th 2014 via Tankcrimes, and as a follow-up to their respective full-length releases ‘Necrocracy’ and ‘Worse Than Dead’ last year, Exhumed and Iron Reagan are offering fans an encore of sorts with this 8-track, 12-minute set of tunes consisting of some killer original tunes and a couple of appropriately chosen covers.
Side A is Exhumed territory as they present four ear-crushing tunes, two originals ‘Gravewalker’ and ‘Dead To The World’ along with covers of Minor Threat’s ‘Seeing Red’ and Negative Approach’s ‘Ready To Fight’. This short 7-minute onslaught hits you and disappears before you even realize it, and even though the original tunes musically have a link to the material off of ‘Necrocracy’, in many ways it’s a throwback to the more raw, pissed-off and grindcore-laden early years of Exhumed and should please old timers as much as newer fans. The grind element of Exhumed’s music is highlighted further in the covers. Based on their recent full-length releases and tours, there’s no doubt that Exhumed are on an all-time high point of their career right now, and this EP simply re-establishes the fact that Matt Harvey and his band mates are absolutely in the groove at the moment.
Side B treats listeners with Iron Reagan’s rampaging four-track attack. The band combines the talents of Municipal Waste’s Tony Foresta and Landphil Hall and ex-Darkest Hour drummer Ryan Parrish, three musicians who don’t know the meaning of the word ‘rest’, as they’re always busy with one musical project or another. This slab of Iron Reagan tunes hits like a bolt of lightning and emanates tremendous amounts of energy and angst in an extremely short time period, presenting quintessential crossover thrash at its finest, led by Tony Foresta’s ever-powerful vocal delivery complemented with excellent guitar work by Landphil Hall and Mark Bronzino, along with a rhythm section that packs a solid punch. Iron Reagan brings forth punk-infused thrash as opposed to Exhumed’s grind-oriented extreme metal approach, and the two bands fit together perfectly on this split EP.
Tankcrimes have left no stone unturned in making this a special release for both bands and their fan base, offering the split EP in tri-color vinyl, and folks who don’t have record players having nothing to worry about as the vinyl purchase comes with a digital download code. Besides the music, the cover artwork is absolutely brutastic. The only bad thing about this EP is that it ends, and for fans of either or both bands, there’s no reason not to pick it up.
Rating: 9.5/10
Related Links:
Gig Review: Exhumed & Iron Reagan Slay Anaheim
Interview With Iron Reagan Frontman Tony Foresta
Record Label: Tankcrimes
Release Date: January 7th 2014
Track Listing:
Side A
1. Gravewalker (Exhumed)
2. Dead To The World (Exhumed)
3. Seeing Red (Exhumed) – Minor Threat cover
4. Ready To Fight (Exhumed) – Negative Approach cover
Side B
5. Life Beater (Iron Reagan)
6. Gave Up On Giving a Fuck (Iron Reagan)
7. Mini Lights (Iron Reagan)
8. Holy Water Makes Me Wet (Iron Reagan)
Links:
facebook.com/ExhumedOfficial
twitter.com/ExhumedOfficial
facebook.com/pages/IRON-REAGAN/235448059864772