FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On October 27, 1998, Death/Grind band Exhumed released their debut album Gore Metal via Relapse Records. It has been described as "totally disgusting". It is their only album until 2017's Death Revenge to feature bassist Ross Sewage.
Background:
Exhumed formed in 1990, when founding member Matt Harvey was 15 years old. Exhumed spent much of the ensuing decade releasing numerous demos, split CDs, and EPs. Harvey explained that he was influenced by Carcass, Impetigo, Repulsion (for me, hometown hero’s) and Terrorizer as well as early albums by Entombed.
Gore Metal blended Death Metal and Grindcore and influenced later bands who played the same type of music. Harvey said that Gore Metal was the album where Exhumed developed its vision, although he conceded that "we were still very loose and sloppy and didn't really have a handle on recording at all. Listening back to that record, I like most of the songs, but the production is awful sounding." Harvey said the band recorded several songs for the album that were lost when producer James Murphy, then suffering from brain cancer and acting "erratically", was evicted from his studio in Oakland.
Gore Metal also led to the band touring the United States and making several festival appearances. The band's line-up continued to change during and after the release of their second album, Slaughtercult, in August 2000.
When asked about “Gore Metal” in an interview with metalhit.com on August 23, 2010, Matt Harvey gave an in depth response; “it’s hard to even compare, because by then we really had a vision of what the band was “about” and what our sound was. We weren’t just coming from the perspective of fans, we were trying to make a statement of our own. At the same time, we were still very loose and sloppy and didn’t really have a handle on recording at all. Listening back to that record, I like most of the songs, but the production is awful sounding. Also, between Col, Ross, and I, we all had different ideas about how the album should be – even down to what songs should go on the album. Col was very adamant that none of the album songs could be taken from any of our 7”s from that period, so a lot of songs that I think are really strong from that period, like Totally Fucking Dead, Dead Again, and Instruments Of Hell didn’t make it on the record and we recorded songs like Deathmask that were a lot older and less interesting in my opinion. Also, we recorded a few other songs that never got mixed for consideration for the album and have since been lost, a couple of which I really would have rather had on the record than some of the songs that are on there. Basically we ran out of money / time, and James (Murphy) had the masters, but due to his illness (he had brain cancer and was acting really erratically and irrationally at times in those days), he got evicted or something from his studio in Oakland and lost all the shit that was stored there, including the ADATs with those songs. Ross (Sewage, bass / vocals) wanted to fill up as much space of the CD as possible and get as much stuff as possible on the record, which I also was against, so the album ended up being too long. It was a big compromise between three strong-willed people with their own visions, and at the end of the day no one ended up really happy, and we all hated the production on the album, even immediately after it was finished. Mike (Beams, guitar) had just joined the band as didn’t really have much to with the direction or the material at all yet, which kind of sucked. We all thought we could do a lot better. But for better or for worse, that album really established the band, especially in America.”
Critical Reception:
Metal Storm wrote: "Gore Metal features a more melodic sound with catchy riffs and often involves three distinct vocalists, sort of like old Carcass.”
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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