EXCRUCIATION is a Death/Doom/Thrash band from Zurich, Switzerland.  Although before this review I wasn't familiar with them, they formed way back in 1984.  Along the way of their long career, they have released several demos, many eps, and even a couple live albums and four full lengths. Their latest is titled "(E)met" and it is a compilation of rare tracks that have been produced their reunion in 2005.  Most of the tracks were only released on vinyl and all of them have been remastered.  Most of the time, compilation albums are just a fan service for the most hardcore follower of the band.  However, as someone who never heard of them before, this particular collection of tracks made me a fan of band and gave me a strong desire to check out everything else they have to offer.  Although, I am a huge Doom Metal fan so I'll just say this: if you don't like Doom, I doubt EXCRUCIATION will change your mind but for everyone else: dive right into this.

There is a nice variety to the tracks and the band covers a lot of ground with their sound.  The opening track, "Towards The Sun," is straight up Death/Doom. The guitar tone is evil and menacing, both aspects could also be applied to the Death growls.  I think this heavier side of the band works a bit better with their sound, compared to some other dimensions they represent."City of Smiles," takes a more clean approach musically but doesn't sound any less dismal.  The clean vocals are well done, kind of remind me of MOONSPELL a bit. Some of the later tracks, like "Black Funeral," and "Kissing Your Life Goodbye," have more of a thrash feel and dashes of melody but it still wrapped up in the band's crushing atmosphere.  Both tracks have some killer groove to them and it incorporates well into their sound by bridging the very wide gap between Doom and Thrash.

The covers on the album are not very good.  "God Of Thunder," retains its catchy nature from the KISS original but the song itself has never been very good and it doesn't translate well with a more Doom sound.  The collection also features to different version of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone," which is unfortunately because just one wasn't even needed.  Again, this is a pretty bad song so I can't think of any band that could save it. However, all the other tracks, while not spectacular are serviceable and recommended for Doom fans.