As any musician will tell you, it's hard getting a group of ,musicians together to write and record music. Think, then, how much harder it must be when all your band members are situated on the other side of the globe, or in numerous cities and countries the world over. Luckily, technology, coupled with the rise and popularisation of the internet has made this a possibility for thousands of talented musicians all over the globe. EXGENESIS are one such band; with vocalist Alejandro Lotero based in Medelin, Columbia, just shy of 6,000 miles away from where his partner in crime, guitarist and bassist Jari Lindholm calls home. Nonetheless, the vast expanse of land between the two is not enough to subdue the desire of the Doom duo to produce great music, and they have managed to release an EP, entitled "Aphotic Veil", in January of this year.

This debut release is a strong statement of intent for what is hopefully going to be the first of many releases over the coming years. Opener "Cloudburst" is a powerful and dark track, laden with a thick and palpable atmosphere throughout. It has a very clean, modern Death/ Doom sound to it, and the tar-like growls make a great contrast with the melodic flourishes of the guitar lines. "Concrematio" begins on a much cleaner guitar tone, before sliding into an epic, foreboding funeral dirge that is likely to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Imagine early PARADISE LOST with a much more polished production, and you'll have a rough idea of how the heavier portions of this track sound. The closest thing this band has to a title track, "Aphotic", is built upon a cold, eerie sounding riff that wouldn't sound out of place in many Black Metal anthems. The rest of a track moves forward at a crawl, which really helps bring these riffs and the drums to life in many regards. If this was a fast track, it's likely that a lot of the better aspects of this track would be easily overlooked. This is quite easily the second best track on here, and could very well stand as the cornerstone of their repertoire in years to come, even though it is an instrumental track. The best track is the one that follows, "Futile Horizon"; this is the point where this EP reaches its true climax, with confident, well played guitar licks, primal drumming and a real showcase of the range of Alejandro's vocal talents, not to mention Jari's technical prowess on both guitars and bass. Once we reach the song which ends this release, "Noctua", your appetite for great tunes has already been satisfied. And this song definitely is another one that is positively brimming with great music and talent, and is a great way to wind down this EP.

If you heard this EP without any knowledge of the men that wrote and performed it, you'd be forgiven for believing that this is a band that has been going for a while, and it would certainly be hard to believe that those involved lived on entirely different continents to each other. The musical image of this band is already fully formed, it would seem, and they sound like a really tight unit. As far as debut releases go, this is a great one. Hopefully the ones that follow it will surpass the lofty standards that this EP has set the band.