Lahar / Exorcizphobia

I like being mistaken about things like this, so I’ll mention my preconception of the Lahar/Exorcizphobia split. Before my first listen, I believed that I would be experiencing two Czech bands with minor elements of crossover spirit and sounds rooted in thrash, both employing moderately fun takes on the genre. They each get an intro to kick off three tracks, but as soon as the eerie clean sounds give way to Lahar’s ‘Ouroboros’ my preconceptions – and my brains – are already sliding down the wall behind me. Lahar are a little bit heavier than I expected, haha.

Granted, the first half of the release does have some thrash techniques and riffs, though they’ve been robbed from Slayer, taken to a death metal gig, pulled into the moshpit, punched in the stomach, dragged outside, beaten up, and then forced to do that dance gangsters make you do when they fire a machine gun near your feet. I’ll call it death thrash, I guess, but it’s really intense, firing off riffs with tough character (thanks to a robust production) and complementing those with full-throttle vocals of death grind nature. Lahar very rarely slow down through any of their songs, only entering normal thrash territory on the slightly more controlled ‘Neviditelná Fronta’ and even then using it to race around in manic crossover fashion. I really can’t get enough of their songs and feel like they display the finished product.

Exorcizphobia arrive through a more evocative intro, samples of urban unrest (police sirens, shouts, breaking glass) giving way to crunchy mid-paced thrash, which is where the following tracks remain. Throwing off the previous Metallica trappings of their early years, the quartet delight with some creative structuring in the riffs and the expected flashy solos, which together make for a very pleasant first minute to ‘Game Ends, Secret Is Revealed’. Despite the quick change of ideas at times, the music settles down to medium-fast grooves in each song, producing a few vocal hooks too to form memorable compositions. Probably the finest piece of work Exorcizphobia offer is on ‘Ministry of Truth’, where some super middle breaks flash out of tense verses, using similar patterns to make the leads very distinctive yet each different from the last.

Splits rarely turn out as well as this one and, regardless of the differing levels of aggression on the two halves, the pace and energy of both bands complement each other well. The dramatic effect of Lahar’s music really hit me hard, yet I’m very partial to Exorcizphobia’s catchy, considered brand of thrash, which has all the hallmarks of high quality. Also, all the songs here are exclusive to the split, so it’s well worth purchasing. Basically, I just recommend you listen to this if you like heavy music.