From Bandcamp, “Exit Plan” is the 6th studio album following the success of the 2020-comeback album “Meet Your Maker.” The process of the “Exit Plan” album was long and challenging with various recording session, line-up changes, producers, and on top of that all the obstacles with Covid and post-Covid. The fact that the band’s engagements with Copenhell and various other festivals in 2020 were postponed two years to 2022 could easily have killed the band that was making a comeback after 15 years in slumber. Instead, all efforts were put into the making of “Exit Plan.”

“[Enter]” is a short into that leads to “Exit Plan.” It has a fairly standard Melo-Death sound, without a lot of variation or experimentation. But the vocals are earnest and the sound is genuine. “Where Dreamers Die” has a more aggressive and hastier sound, fueled by contentious riffs, harsh vocals, and energetic drumming. “Not the Destination” swirls some backing tracks into the mix, but I feel like the riff is just too simple, too expected. “I Finally Lost (All Faith in Humanity)” has an aggressive riff as well as some out-of-the-box thinking, with meaty bass notes. The chorus is chocked full of harmonies and it quite catchy as well.

“Denial Denial Denial” makes nice use of backing elements to carry some of the sound, and it is nice to hear some more deviation from norms. The sounds is also quite catchy, and it’s another win for the band. The album is getting better as it moves along. “Finish What You Started” has an energetic riff along with more meaty bass notes, and another catchy chorus rounds out the song. “Mindreader” closes the album. It’s another catchy song, but they are not taking a lot of chances. When a band makes a comeback album after 15 years, playing it safe seems to be the way to go. But I would challenge them to push themselves into unexplored territory, especially in this genre, where the boundaries are limitless. It’s as solid as anything that I have heard this year, but they just played it too safe in my opinion.