EXHUMED - All Guts, No Glory [Review]

Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore

Label: Relapse Records

Release-date: July 5th, 2011

Reviewer: Karim Tarik

Hailing from San Jose, California, Exhumed are acclaimed as one of the pioneer Grindcore/Death Metal bands around. They have been unleashing their gory brutality upon us since 1990. Having released such gems as 1992’s “Goregasm” and 2000’s “Slaughtercult,” they went on a 5-year hiatus right after releasing their 2005 “Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated,” and here comes 2011 to mark their continuation of releasing pure hardcore, blood-drunk Death Metal under the album title “All Guts, No Glory.”

As much as its name sounds creepy and its album art looks average, “All Guts, No Glory” came incredibly brutal and mind-grinding. It follows the very basic principles of Grindcore/Death Metal; it’s fast, violent, chaotic, and insanely vociferous. It also features vintage Grindcore drumming by the blast-beat grandmaster, Donny Walker.

The album retains the old-school Grindcore sound, yet it doesn’t sound downright “old-school”; it features a lot of enhancements and evolution to the usual sound of Exhumed which pretty much makes it much of a punch in the face to a lot of nowadays’ Death Metal/Grindcore bands.

“All Guts, No Glory” sounded a bit less crude than most of Exhumed’s previous albums; it bore a great deal of musicianship that is clearly manifested in most of the guitar solo parts and breakthroughs. Yet, even after a brief preview listen, you could definitely tell, just by the sound, that this is no band but Exhumed, and that’s why I take my hats off for them; they managed to actually improve their sound and perfect it, while still maintaining their exclusive trademark style .

Although it wasn’t long enough to satisfy an average diehard Death Metal fan’s hunger, the album still holds its great value as one of Exhumed’s top-notch albums and also as one of the best comebacks of our time, as it was definitely worth the wait.

I’d totally recommend that album to whoever is into Death Metal generally, and specifically to nostalgic genuine Grindcore fans who miss the sound of old-school bands like Terrorizer, Napalm Death, Repulsion, Atrocity, and even Exhumed themselves. It’s an enjoyable 36-minute period of skull-squashing brutality that would fairly quench one’s gluttony for Death Metal and Grindcore.

Highlights: As Hammer To Anvil, Die-Assembly Line.

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