After the fall of the dictatorial regime in Eastern Europe, when the countries under the flag of the Soviet Union became independent, many Metal acts were revealed or came to existence. These words states clean that Metal and dictatorships aren’t compatible in any way possible. But the isolation of the dictatorship there had an strange effect: it’s usual to have bands from Eastern countries of Europe showing something different. And EXORCIZPHOBIA, a quartet hailing from the lands of Czechia, shows some different insights on their fourth album, “Spiritual Exodus”. They’re a Thrash Metal band with heavy influences from the melodic side of the genre as it was done in USA on the 80s. In other words, they follow the same tendency of acts as MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, VIO-LENCE, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM and others in such trench.

But with a different feature evident: the melodic side of their music seems to be inherited from USA Power Metal/US Metal (especially on some moments of the vocals). They bind together aggressiveness and melodic care, improving their musical work, especially because they create a set of arrangements that boost the hooks of their music (but it’s done in a subjective way, so a beginner can have a wrong idea when dealing with their music for the first time). Yes, it’s very good, indeed. The album was recorded at Davos Studio by Jindrich Tomanek, with mixing and mastering done by Martin Hollandr (both of them share the production duties with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Tomas). The idea was to make something ‘stripped-off’, without endless digital editions to keep the refreshing and living energy of the band’s music. But it’s defined and clean as well, what means that it’s not hard to understand what’s being played.

Be prepared, because they’ll hook you at any cost with their songs, especially “Initiation” (a song filled with a melodic intro that precedes a violent, fast and brutal song tempered by melodies, with excellent double bass parts from the drums), “Violence and War” (another catchy song with very good rhythmic shifts and whipping guitar riffs), “Reflections” (wow, this is a torpedo mixing furious elements with melodic arrangements, with excellent guitars and with a charming work of the vocals), “Down the Rabbit Hole” (a true live hit for their shows due its massive and energetic hooks), “Ring-Pass-Not” (another live hit, with fast tempos, and it’s the album’s first Single), and “Through a Glass Darkly”. But’s hard to not speak about “Those Who Oppose” (their most different song due the focus more on the weight than on the speed, creating a bonecrushing and addictive song), and the long instrumental “Tiwanaku” (its 7 minutes are rich in arrangements, and it’s not only in the ‘song-to-fill-the-album’ kind).

Obviously, EXORCIZPHOBIA can offer more than is shown on “Spiritual Exodus”, but it’s that kind of album that you must have in your home.