In the years between 1980 and 1995, a band of any genre of Metal you can think of could be said lucky for releasing a second album (in sense, even to record an album was a matter of lucky and efforts beyond a Herculean Labours of Greek mythology). But second albums present an opportunity: to compare how a band evolves in every sense of the word. Obviously for fans, the word ‘evolution’ can cause chills down their spines, but here is presented to speak about an ample and wider sense to understand what the reissue of “Extermination Revelry”, the second album of the North American quartet DRAWN AND QUARTERED, is up to. The initial difference between “Extermination Revelry” and its predecessor, “To Kill is Human” is on the drums: Dario Derna entered in the place of Matt Cason.

The rest stays in the same way it was on their previous album: a form of classic Death Metal that belongs to the 90s, with a good technical care on the arrangements. But one thing must be said: the band matured a lot, here presenting their musical ideas in a better way, coherent and extremely solid as granite, and it is reflected in each song of the album. In other words, it can be said that the band became able to express itself in a better way. Odin “The Old Goat” is the executive producer, leaving the mixing and recordings for Jesse O’Donnell, and the mastering was done by the hands of James Murphy (the same guitarist of DEATH, OBITUARY and TESTAMENT), with the band co-recording and co-mixing everything. This all means that the band preserved its natural brutal vein into Death Metal, but knowing better how to get what they wanted of the sonority: brutal, extreme and rough, but in a way that’s not hard to be understood by the hearers. And the artwork again depicts the musical brutality of the band’s music, but with an art nouveau sense of Ray Miller (design) and Gabriel Byrne (artwork, the same one who did the cover of “To Kill is Human”).

Again: the album depicts the same musical work of “To Kill is Human”, just in a mature way. And it can be felt on songs as “Embrace of Darkness” (a mix between violent Death Metal oppressive elements with some faster blast beats of Grindcore, with a brutal work from bass guitar and drums), “Incinerated Faithful” (the rhythms sounds as solid was a granite wall, but allowing the guitars to show excellent riffs and arrangements), “Kill for My Master” (sharp, noisy and extreme, taking use of the low roars of the vocals), “Worshippers of Total Death” (a 7 minutes songs that presents many rhythmic shifts), “Sodomized and Butchered” (a caustic Death Metal song with violent fast tempos), “Abyss Behind My Gaze” (filled with disgusting ambiences due the slow paced parts), and the bonus track “Show No Mercy” (it’s not a SLAYER cover, please).

DRAWN AND QUARTERED depicts on “Extermination Revelry” the concept of ‘evolution-without-changes’, so have your own experience with the album!