There is something about Tech Death labels that just exudes quality, as if they’re a magnet for exceptional bands. Perhaps it’s something in the music that demands a certain type of competitive attitude to be the best musician. I’ve always enjoyed this about Tech Death and seeing labels like The Artisan Era and Unique Leader grow into huge stand out labels is amazing. I love to see how far the extremity can be pushed as even still I feel like Tech Death is one of the few sub genres with so much more still to give.
A band known for pushing boundaries are the French quartet Exocrine. A band who truly have worked their way to the top and put their hearts into their passion. They formed in 2013 but have only recently begun to demand acclaim. The bands third full length, Molten Giant arguably saw the band garner their much needed success. Now we come to 2020 and Maelstrom, the bands fourth full length. It’s put out through Unique Leader Records and promises a signature blend of Progressive Tech Death that includes Synthwave elements, sounds like a winner to me!
The albums opening titular track is all about speed, overly Tech riffs and all out destruction. There is a certain added brutality to Exocrine that puts them above a lot of bands on the heaviness scale within the genre. I’m less keen however on the Djent/ Deathcore elements they seem to project, however if you can put this more down to experimentation than anything else then there is some element of understanding. As we go into The Kraken it’s pretty easy to start thinking ‘what about this Synthwave’ there are trickling little nods to it but nothing overbearing. Given the nature of the music you’d think it would be super over the top, so overall a bit of a shame. Wall Of Water randomly injects some Jazz trumpet at its end as if Howard Moon has joined the band, out of place but ear catching.
Going through into The Wreck, the trumpet makes another Jazz handed appearance, and this time I rather like it, interesting to say the least and certainly very different. There really isn’t all that much else to report on as the album progresses. Despite the fact that the album is full of insane wizardry and becomes a touch too much, and I’m not normally one to cower in the face of extremity. However, in this instance it’s extremity without much purpose, in fact a lot of riffs seem recycled along with the drumming, it gets a bit boring. Even the different sections such as the slow melodic portion of The Chosen One are underused and not woven in with a great deal of care. My good friend the trumpet makes another appearance in the albums closing track Galactic Gods, a nice befitting end.
Maelstrom promises so much and doesn’t quite deliver fully. I think my aforementioned cowering was not at the actual extremity of the music but rather the lack of living up to the promise. Upon reading the descriptive passages for this release I really expected something that was going to knock the Tech Death scene off its feet, and doubly so given the label. Instead I got a disjointed, lacklustre release. I mean there are good points, the ridiculous trumpet sections for one are brilliant and the occasional Synthwave notions are welcomed too. My message to Exocrine, amp these elements up and you’ll be truly unique in the field of Tech.
(7/10 George Caley)
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