Album Review: Eximperitus - Meritoriousness of Equanimity
Reviewed by Eric Clifford
Eximperitus – or, if you prefer the full name, “Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulwel” – are an enigmatic Belarusian bunch that have thankfully demonstrated musical chops enough to be noteworthy for more than the spelling bee final boss keyboard workout of a name they’ve gone with. They don’t seem to play live much, probably because some of their song titles (especially on their debut) require a calendar month and insect mouthparts to pronounce properly. Fittingly, they’re not the most prolific of bands either – this being their first album in five years, and their third in the last 10 years. But quantity is no indicator of quality; sometimes the best taste takes a slow cook. So, has all this marinating been kind to Eximperitus?
The odd bitter note to the finished plateful aside, yes, yes it has. There’s a tightrope trod here; adherence maintained to their brutal death roots while exploring melodious territories. But first things first; these song titles are longer than time itself, so i’m going to post the tracklist here. Henceforth when I write “song two” you’ll be able to glance back and see which one I’m on about:
I. One Step Long Infinity.
II. Contemplation of the Plastic Fibers of Perfection at the Second Level of Reality.
III. Twelve Centuries of Triumph of the Third Kingdom…
IV. Finding Consistency in the Fourth Quadrant of Eternity.
V. The Untimely Fruit of the Unsaid.
VI. Golden Chains for the Construction of Individual Greatness.
VII. Molecular Disintegration of an Unattainable Solitary Will in a Vessel of Wisdom...
VIII. Chalkionic Wandering Among the Wreckage of the Future.
IX. Standing at the Skirt of the Ruins of Human Nature (...on the Other Side of Man and Time)
Primarily, Eximperitus seem to be concerned with mood. Which isn’t to say they’re stingy with the blasts and gurgles, so much as to point out that the band is putting their whole ass into building a dark, brooding atmosphere. This isn’t one of those riff salad albums wherein a band’s principal concern is wrapping a million awesome riffs onto depleted uranium rounds and blasting your face off with them. When Eximperitus find a riff they like, they form a fucking relationship with it . You get this ritualistic vibe going, with clever ornamentation and switching drum patterns securing those cracks through which boredom might otherwise threaten to poke it’s grey head. Thus, even when boisterous malcontents of riffs such as the lupine ambush of track six stick around to get breakfast afterwards it never feels padded or onerous. If I think that the album is often a little too comfortable settling in at mid-tempo I can nonetheless respect the craft it takes to make a track like song nine – which is largely a single riff – work for a duration of almost 5 minutes.
They’re a dab hand – mostly – at song transitions too. Things start out fast and angry, but the oily slip between the venomous tirade of song one and the more measured, glowering resentment of song two is so seamless that I didn’t notice it happen at first. Cohesion. Flow. These things are important but not necessarily easy to pin down and expound upon. They do it through recurrent motifs dotted about the tracks to seal each one together, and through beginning tracks in likeminded fashion to how prior tracks end. And it works, but even so there’s moments where some slack in the leash wouldn’t be inexcusable. Tracks four and five are both similar in they’re morbid, hunched ogres of tracks largely at mid pace. Track five in particular has this earth-churning colossus of a slam riff early on. Credit where it’s due – it’s a decent riff. But it’s also a ponderous, unhurried riff. The type of riff with a clear schedule first thing so it woke up late and took its time in the shower. And following on from another morose cut like track four I think you could be forgiven for wishing something with a bit more adrenaline from the get-go had shown up instead.
Pick of the bunch for me goes to track eight, an unbridled napalm eruption of these sliding, seasick riffs that wind over the land like hunting anacondas. There’s a gene or two of Hate Eternal in it; listen to “Behold Judas” for example – hear the Jormungandr flex of it, all it’s undulating coils and loops, and you’ll hear it’s likeness in Eximperitus’ own track eight. Not that Hate Eternal are the only influence for the band. There’s a very hefty debt owed to Morbid Angel, specifically in the downtuned crunch of their unassailably brilliant “Gateways to Annihilation” release. It’s the triplets I think – the low, distorted growl of them spiralling up and down the deeper fathoms of the fretboard. The heaviness of it is palpable, a shrouding enormity to it like a burial beneath whalefall at the floor of the sea. But again, there’s more to it than pure brawn. Extensive melodic passages twin the beast with beauty, track two with the rich tapped leads of it’s closing movements, and track five with the fluid span of it’s sumptuously melodic midsection. This is a death metal through and through, but it boasts a versatile construction that lends it a subtlety you don’t always see in death metal bands.
So, the album taken as a whole is not perfect, but nor did it need to be to reaffirm Eximperitus’ spot in the modern death metal lineup, and it does have my fingers crossed that we won’t be waiting five years for a sequel. It’s grown on me somewhat – I wouldn’t describe my initial take as frosty, but it wasn’t until a few more spins had come and gone that the advantages of it’s approach became apparent to me. I’m pleased to report that once more Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum have proven themselves inarguably worthy of your attention for reasons beyond a name like an all-time scrabble high score. Grab it as soon as payday permits you to do so.
