When you think of Melodic Death Metal, many people tend to think of Sweden and, to a lesser extent, Finland. Throughout the 90's and early 2000's, many bands began to emerge from these countries that combined the harshness of Death Metal with the Melodic tones of Traditional Metal, Classical and Folk music. But, of course, there are some parts of the world where Melodic Death Metal also began to appear around the same time. Russia's EXHUMATION have been going since 1994, and have put out several decent releases, the latest of which being the bizarrely titled "Bread Buttered on Both Sides", a four track EP which is a great example of where the genre stands today. This title describes their sound quite well; they have progressed onward somewhat from their origins in the Melodic Death Metal scene and are doing something a bit more "mainstream" with this release. It has catchy hooks, grooves and melodies which are a million miles away from the Swedish Melodic Death Metal scene, but it still has an air of it about it.

The opening track, "Blood Thirst", is a fairly good way to start this EP off. This is very heavy on the melodic side of things, has some great riffs, powerful drums, and even more powerful, raspy vocals from Irina Barnina. This song can't honestly be compared to any other band in the Melo-Death scene, and it has it's own unique sound, as it should; they've had two decades in which to prefect it. "An Easy Mark" is another solid Melodic Metal tune, with some great, Hard Rock style soloing from Vadim Sagitov to top the whole thing off. All of the songs on this EP, although sounding completely different from each other, contain some of the most impassioned and imaginative guitar solos that I, personally, have heard in a while. The penultimate track, "Threshold" is perhaps the one song on this EP that is most rooted in their Melo-Death beginnings, especially vocally and in terms of guitar lines. The final track, "Windwalker" originally released in 2012, is a nice addition to this brilliant EP, and a great way to end the record leaving fans wanting more.

As I said initially, the title "Bread Buttered on Both Sides" although being somewhat strange, is perhaps the most adequate way to describe the bands sound and state in 2014; it is firmly rooted in the Melodic Death Metal scene that spawned the band, but is at the same time quite far away from the typical sound of the genre. These guys peddle a strong, powerful, and above all, accessible, sound, while still managing to straddle the underground scene that Death Metal is so suited to. Unlike many of their peers, time has not made their sound stale; rather, they sound as fresh and ready to take on the world as ever.