EXHUMED: RED ASPHALT
ALBUM REVIEW: Through the ears of a novice: The world's finest gore-grinding-juggernaut rolls into town and knocks the wax from my lily-white virgin ear-drums.
Exhumed: Red Asphalt
Relapse Records, 2026.
LP | CD | DL
I’m writing this as an Exhumed novice.
I’ve been aware of them since forever - mostly due to their association with Relapse Records, a label that always releases interesting Death Metal adjacent stuff, even if the ACTUAL Death Metal records rarely pique my interest.
That’s down to a few factors which, rightly or wrongly, are just dictated by nuances of my musical taste. I’m not a huge fan of subsonic death bellows; vocals so low that they resonate in the bowels of Hell or can only be achieved with a pitch-shifter.
You can keep, too, flamboyant guitar solos crammed in between blast-beats and dive-bombing whammy theatrics. They sound senseless to me. Equally, the lyrical content of gore, zombies, mutilation and other horror tropes makes me yawn fairly quickly; long before an album of that sort of material has reached its offal end.
There are exceptions, of course. Some early Death LPs, alongside occasional Morbid Angel records can sometimes float my blood-soaked boat if I’m in the mood. Deicide are an all-time favourite, as are Entombed and At The Gates. Sometimes Nile or Nasum. The entirely wonderful Pig Destroyer or Today Is The Day are regularly spun when I require more sinister depth to my grindy/gore/death.
But that’s about it. I’m just not an habitual grinder or Death Metaller.
All of which is to say that I never bothered with Exhumed in the past.
But hang on. I was, ironically, DOOM scrolling at the weekend, and news of their latest release popped up on some feed or other. With nothing better to do, I clicked on the link. I wasn’t expecting much. The artwork alone was cliché enough to turn me off but fuck it. I was bored.
And thank the gore-gods for boredom.
Because what I heard immediately pricked my ears up and engaged my soul. Perhaps I was in a vulnerable state of mind which left me more open than usual to the ensuing racket. I don’t know what else to put it down to but, momentarily, my prejudices were surrendered and I have a feeling I might always be pleased that they were…
So excuse my Noob Naivety on this - I’m writing from a comparatively green perspective, as far as the genre, and Exhumed specifically, is concerned.
Here’s what I’ve learned: Exhumed seem to do things slightly differently. I’m not suggesting they’re entirely unique, but to my fresh ears, there are a couple of factors that made them stand out to me.
For a start, they have two vocalists, so the splatter chatter feels richer and less of a stereotype. Yes - there are bellows, but there are just as many, if not more, higher-pitched yells, which immediately breaks down a barrier for me. The guitar solos, too, are less snazzy - they tend to serve the songs better than most, with that service as a motivation rather than showing off with ostentatious playing for the sake of it. There’s a more punk-inspired mentality to their approach, which I immediately liked.
Yes, their well-written lyrics are somewhat trite, subject-wise. Blood and gore and, in the case of Red Asphalt, all themed around car-crashes and death on the road.
Fine. I can’t make everything they’re saying anyway and as I’ve discovered, the self-deprecating/wry humour of the band is one of the reasons their fans love them so.
They are wonderfully aware of the ridiculous nature of the twaddle they are peddling and double down on it, without being “funny” or a taking it so seriously that it becomes cringey. They remain convincing.
It’s a difficult balance to meet, but they manage it with glorious aplomb.
A good example of that is the title of the album. It’s named after a US public information film that was shown in schools across America throughout the 80s.
Although the LP was officially released last week, trying to find a vinyl copy in the UK has been next to impossible. Especially not the glamorous blue and yellow indies-only splatter. I have, however, secured a standard red copy, so feel like I can legitimately publish a review while I await its arrival.
The festering procession launches with the thunderous preview track, Unsafe At Any Speed.
The bass and guitars riff the shit out of each other on top of blasting drums, adding unending intricacies to their assault as all components escalate together. The pacing and riffage jumps about all over the place, from sludgy rolls to hyper-active thrash. I could maybe do without the big solo, but am willing to look past it, due to the intensity of the bowling rhythms.
The production (self-made) is immediately ear-snagging. So dense and powerful. Thick but clear. Lively and engaging. The boys did good. The music is so dense it must be difficult to find the balance between heaviness and articulation. Credit goes to band guitarist and newest member in a career-long chain of different players, Sebastian Philips, for the really well engineered recording.
The title track begins with a cool descending, filthy and spidery riff that catches your lugholes and keeps them engaged from the off. Interviews with the band often reference their desire to create catchy songs, and Red Asphalt is a really good example of how they succeed at that goal.
When the gnarly bass is given its own podium, the foul tone that underpins everything ventures into the light and really fucking slams. The drums pummel and the twin vocals, perfectly double-tracked, sound positively demonic. The guitars break from the rhythm with a signature riff that has a harmonised, trad-metal feel to it which succeeds in making it super-sticky and addictive.
I’m always looking for the track on an album that you NEED to go back and replay immediately. It’s the sign of well written compulsion. On Red Asphalt, the eponymous song is that track. Even the guitar solo at the bridge adds to the brutality without drawing all the attention away from the rest of it. Mega. Surprising that it fades out rather than slams out though.
And what a couplet:
A roadside cross to mark the place,
Where screaming wheels peeled off your face.
The super-punchy 36-minute duration of the album is emphasised by Shock Trauma’s whirling march. You can feel The Pit swirling around you as the double-bass barrels and the low growls bark, peppered with lines from Matt Harvey’s higher pitched rasp.
The Bad Horsey- style guitar solo that lands slap in the middle of the song feels a bit overblown, but functions as a transition that takes the song down into a mid-paced bridge that’s rewarding of its own accord. The solo’s return at the end, is just too much flash for me, though.
Shovelhead is the second, animated, preview track of Red Asphalt and it slows the pace down to sludgy groove that gives the song a determined stride that’s part intimidating and part self-confident grin. It’s got a sway that is impossible to ignore; your head can’t resist but to bob along with it throughout its run, even when you feel like you’re in its sights and marked for death.
Another fade though.
Weird.
Midway point, single The Iron Graveyard, has got a COOL hyperactive main rhythm riff that darts about like an ADHD toddler, but is way less annoying than those meaty little midgets are. It’s got a vibrant, breathless energy that raises your heartrate with intent - as well as a super-melodic solo that fits the song well.
Exiting that little dash of flash is a killer pace drop and central riff that’s not quite a breakdown, but is definitely a navigable landmark few bars that provides some texture before the song blasts to its end.
Charbroiled skin flakes onto the seats
Vitreous bodies boiled from the heat
Femurs shattered by metallic chunks
Flesh drips in deliquescent hunks
Crawling From The Wreckage has an aptly slow pace and the kind of roll that couldn’t give less of a fuck what you think of it. I can see the crowd rising and falling like the North Atlantic when this is played live, bursting into a frenetic whirlpool of flying fists when the pace changes for the second half of the composition.
The accompanying solo that pulls out of the blast and back down to the snail’s pace treads a thin line between ace and ostentatious but manages to stay the right side of it for me.
I assume this will be the lead track on Side Two when my record arrives, in which case, it launches with conviction.
And the bar remains for Signal Thirty, which has a hardcore feel to its attack, vocal delivery and, especially, with Mike Hamilton’s drums, which are more straightforward here, a fact that doesn’t belie his incredible ability. What a tub-thumper - technical, precise, articulate and pronounced. And also entirely capable of delivering no-fuss, four-to-the-floor, barraging brilliance.
Signal Thirty is thrashing and bilious; Harvey and Ross Sewage’s vocals spit wildly across all the instrumentation. It’s a maelstrom, and the punctuation in the centre of the song that drops us down to more mid-paced adventure for a few bars ends up becoming the key moment that you wait for on subsequent listens.
The song is powerful, really well structured and a definite high-point for me, rivaling the opening salvo of Unsafe At Any Speed and Red Asphalt for… erm… impact.
Death On Four Wheels’ main riff feels more technical than others so far and is accompanied by a couple of juicy squeals and pinches, as well as lots of panning breaks that give it a ton of texture and hook-filled ID markers.
I absolutely love the momentary drop-outs and pick-ups. They lull you into a false sense of security; you think you have time for a breath, but you don’t. As soon as you inhale, you’re off again, with no time for expulsion.
Frankly, I could have done without the solo, again, but I guess that’s the sort of thing the fans come for. It’s the only thing that keeps me away from fully embracing the genre, I think.
But that’s very much just me. The playing is great, the solos are well-performed, well-written and well-played. Just aesthetically not my bag.
But those solos are over-indulgent beyond repair on Symphorophilia. I mean; they make it fun, but I just don’t want them in my face.
A bit like my dog’s butthole. Endlessly amusing, but not on my lip, thanks.
The solos seal the song’s fate as the weakest track, for me, on the LP.
The Fumes is the climax of this fun-fueled, gore-driven road-trip, and it’s a great way to go out. The song really drives - pun intended - a furious pace without actually grinding and with enough going on to make it feel unique. The tom-slams in the bridge being a standout moment. Then the customary widdles that go on a bit too long but, nevertheless, have been written with the song, rather than the spotlight, in mind. So all is forgiven.
Doubly forgiven when the song collapses into the most fluid and sickening gurgles this side of draining a custard-filled bathtub. When all’s said and done, there’s so much invention at play in The Fumes, it could well be my track of the album.
Certainly, the best end-track I can remember listening to in quite some time.
Oh - and that chorus:
Air thick with monoxide, you sputter and hack
Poison turns your blood into grume
Exhaust fills your windpipe, sight dims to black
As slowly, you choke on the fumes
The fumes!
Aside from wondering what the fuck ‘grume’ is*, how wonderfully suicidal.
*A blood clot, FWIW.
All being said, I’m now a huge convert to Exhumed.
There is an innate energy, humour and dynamism to what they’re doing that elevates them for me. I hasten to add - the caveat being I’m no authority on the genre.
But Red Asphalt has encouraged me to dig deeper. I’ve already ordered the band’s back catalogue and am keen to go through it in detail. My ears are also more open now to Death Metal as a whole. I’d just love to find some as addictive and inventive as Exhumed - though slightly less peppered with guitar solos.
Does such a thing exist? Let me know in the comments.
Ave, Bangers!
Gruesome Bandcamp (Matt Harvey's Death inspired side-band).
Impaled Bandcamp (Ross Sewage's Exhumed-inspired side-band).
I'm a similar boat, relatively new to the band's output and decided to treat this as an entry point. So far, I'm thoroughly enjoying this ride and planning a dive into the back catalogue soon, as well as getting a ticket to their show here later in the year! Pretty fine album when noobs who historically eschew straight up death metal/grind can jump right onboard so seamlessly.