CUT off one head and two more will take its place, particularly in the underground metal scene, where bands tend to form faster than others that split up or go into hiatus. This is especially true for the Malaysian scene, where there are always new projects coming into existence as others are put on hold.
A recent example is legacy death metal band Langsuir, formed in the early 90s, bringing Bloodhymns on-board as the band’s vocalist to great effect with the release of its EP Engkar. The singer is the live guitarist for Sauts Alastor and the vocalist-guitarist of Tasyim, among other bands.
The frequent “intermarriage” between local bands is quite common in the metal scene and often leads to interesting collaborations as well as great music. This is especially true with the relatively new band Exhuman.
Recently releasing its debut EP World of Sovereign, Exhuman is the culmination of several impressive musicians from different bands coming together to create yet another Malaysian metal band that is hard to properly classify due to the inherent diversity of metal and the absurd amount of subgenres contained within it.
Though there are only five songs on the EP, each track sounds unique, but all share the same furious, technical approach to songwriting and musicianship.
Despite being listed as a groove, thrash metal or metalcore band online, World of Sovereign is closer to melodic death metal with a generous sprinkling of thrash metal thanks not only to the riffs, but also Alif Tajuddin’s contribution as the band’s vocalist.
His vocals, evolving since the days of him screaming for the thrash band Kreacion, is the cherry on top of Exhuman’s impressive debut EP. Coincidentally, the best song on the album is the marriage of everything that already works, but with the added clean singing by Afiat Suardi on the third track Eyes and Bones.
Songs such as the title track Virtue Lies and The Death Lullaby hark back to sounds by bands such as In Flames, At the Gates and Amon Amarth.
If World of Sovereign falls short in anything, it is that there is very little, or not as much thought put into the lyricism compared with how well-rounded everything else is on the song composition and production side, but is anyone really listening to the lyrics when it comes to metal music except for a few diehards?
That said, the EP is nonetheless a very strong debut release and Exhuman easily proves itself as the kind of band with the technicality and energy to get listeners headbanging.
Exhuman will be playing a show in Bandung, Indonesia on Apr 12 and it will be joining Langsuir on tour on May 10 in Ipoh and June 6 in Penang.
