Exhumed (band)

Exhumed is an American death metal band from San Jose, California that is currently signed to Relapse Records. The band plays an old school style of death metal influenced by early Carcass and Entombed and is known for its gore-themed lyrics. The band, which has endured a highly unstable line-up since inception, formed in 1990, went on hiatus in 2005, and reformed in 2010, with guitarist/vocalist Matt Harvey being the band's only consistent member.

Background

Early history (1990–2000)

Exhumed formed in 1990, when founding member Matt Harvey was 15 years old. Exhumed spent much of the ensuing decade releasing numerous demos, split CDs, and EPs. Harvey explained that the band were influenced by Carcass, Impetigo, Repulsion and Terrorizer as well as early albums by Entombed. Harvey also discussed his disenchantment over the directions that death metal took in the middle and late 1990s, such as death 'n' roll and technical death metal, led Exhumed to focus on old school death metal:

The differences between [Entombed's] Left Hand Path and Wolverine Blues or [Carcass's] Reek of Putrefaction and Swansong are both pretty big. It seemed like nobody was playing the kind of death metal that I was into. I stopped being a current death metal fan in 1993, because it just didn't sound like what I liked. I wanted more stuff like Impetigo, Cadaver, those types of bands...by the time [Gore Metal] came out, it was already a retro sound, even in 1998, because when you looked at bands that were around at the time, like Nile and Dying Fetus, the direction the genre was going in was a lot more technical. We always weren't [sic] into doing that. It's great that they could push the boundaries but it just didn't interest me, personally. So, we just played old-fashioned death metal.^[1]

The band recorded their debut album Gore Metal in 1998. The album blended death metal and grindcore. Harvey said that Gore Metal was the album where Exhumed developed its vision, although he conceded that "we were still very loose and sloppy and didn't really have a handle on recording at all. Listening back to that record, I like most of the songs, but the production is awful sounding."^[2] Harvey said the band recorded several songs for the album that were lost when producer James Murphy, then suffering from brain cancer and acting "erratically", was evicted from his studio in Oakland.^[2]

Middle period and hiatus (2001–2009)

This led to the band touring the United States and making several festival appearances. The band's line-up continued to change during and after the release of their second album, Slaughtercult, in 2001. Harvey said that Slaughtercult was "the album where we came closest to achieving our goal – just a brutal, simple, direct group of songs that were very up-front and live sounding."^[2] He further noted the band's pride over the lack of double bass on the album, in contrast to contemporary death metal trends.^[2] In support of Slaughtercult, the band did three US tours, and their first proper European tour, including co-headlining festivals like Fuck the Commerce and Obscene Extreme. The band also appeared at the Wacken Open Air festival.

The band evolved further with their third album, Anatomy Is Destiny (2003), which added more sophisticated arrangements, production and instrumentation. Bassist Leon del Muerte replaced Bud Burke soon after the album was recorded. Harvey described the album as "a big step forward",^[2] but retrospectively criticized the album for its lack of memorable choruses. He said of Anatomy Is Destiny, "in many ways it's our best album, but in just as many, we missed the mark on a bunch of things."^[2]

Co-founder and drummer Col Jones departed Exhumed in 2003, which impacted the line-up and creative chemistry of the band. Harvey recalled, "After he (Jones) left it was a big adjustment. I was trying to run shit on my own creatively and logistically. The anatomy of the band just dissolved and everything fell apart."^[3] As Harvey attempted to rebuild the line-up, Exhumed issued a double CD compilation of their early recordings titled Platters of Splatter. After touring North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, guitarist Mike Beams departed and new guitarist Wes Caley and drummer Matt Connell made their debut. Exhumed then completed recording an album of cover songs titled Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated. Harvey later explained that the album was intended as a "stopgap" album, although the band's subsequent hiatus put the band on hold longer than planned. Harvey later recalled:

I was pretty burnt on Exhumed. The fact that the band hadn't really gotten any bigger from album to album, along with the Anatomy line-up falling apart were really frustrating, especially in light of how much work we had done. I felt like without Col in Exhumed, the band didn't really have any credibility any more, and I was just tired of teaching new people the songs and hoping that they would "get" where the band was coming from.^[2]

During the hiatus, Harvey played in Dekapitator, Gravehill, and Scarecrow. Harvey, later remarking that "the passion for music didn't go away but my passion for Exhumed went away",^[3] came to regret that the band's last recording would be a covers album and, feeling rejuvenated, decided to reform Exhumed to record a new studio album.^[2]

Reunion (2010–present)

In an interview conducted shortly after announcing that Exhumed would reform, Harvey remarked that "After a few years off and away from the death metal scene, I feel rejuvenated and ready to hack, maim and kill once again. I wanted this to be a continuation of what the band was doing and was on its way to doing, not a reunion or some weird nostalgia thing."^[4]

In 2010, the band recorded All Guts, No Glory. The album line up was Harvey on guitars and high vocals, del Muerte on bass and low vocals, Caley on guitar and Danny Walker on drums. The musical approach taken on All Guts, No Glory was, according to Harvey, intentionally based on the band members' favoured elements of previous Exhumed records: "We all agreed that the period of Exhumed we liked the best was Slaughtercult and wanted to mix that with the technicality and melody of Anatomy."^[5]

The band toured extensively, although del Muerte and Walker left the band to complete Murder Construct's debut album. They were replaced by Bob Babcock and Mike Hamilton (Deeds of Flesh), respectively.

In 2012, guitarist Caley was replaced by Bud Burke,^[6] and the band recorded Necrocracy,^[7] which was released by Relapse Records on August 2, 2013.^[8] Harvey described the album as being "not quite as fast" as All Guts, No Glory.^[9]

Songwriting

Over the years of their existence, Exhumed's approach to songwriting has become increasingly traditional in its structure. Main songwriter Matt Harvey said:

On any song that we're writing, the first thing I think is, "Where's the chorus? What's the chorus? Where's the hook?" Then we've got something to build around. I'm very into the regular pop format of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus and variations thereof. To me, the chorus has to be the thing that grabs me and hooks me in – especially in death metal, because there's no vocal melody. Yeah, you've got riffs, but you have to have something to hook the listener in, to bring them back, to keep them listening again and again and again. That's really the goal, to create music that I would want to listen to five years later. For me, it's all about choruses and trying to write catchy songs.^[10]

Lyrics

Exhumed's lyrics focus on gore themes. However, the band uses this thematic lens in an allegorical fashion. Lyricist Matt Harvey said:

One thing I like about gore is that it gives you a set of aesthetics to work with to use as an allegory or metaphor. Even as far back as the first album, a lot of the songs are metaphors for different things. We have songs about consumerism and songs about relationships and songs about politics. Instead of me coming off like a whiny bitch complaining about society, I'm able to put it across in a way that's really allegorical and has its own entertainment value without having any deeper context...the gore metaphor keeps me from becoming a preachy, pretentious douchebag.^[10]

On Necrocracy, Harvey wrote lyrics that applied the gore theme to political subject matter, such as a critique of American corporatism and consumerism.^[11]

Personnel

Current

• Matt Harvey – guitar, vocals (1990–present)
• Michael Hamilton – drums (2011–present)
• Bud Burke – bass, vocals (1999–2003), guitar, vocals (2012–present)
• Rob Babcock – bass, vocals (2010–present)

Former

• Wes Caley – guitar (2005–2012)
• Leon del Muerte – guitar (1996–1997), bass, vocals (2002–2005, 2010–2011)
• Jake Giardina – bass, vocals (1991–1993)
• Ross Sewage – bass, vocals (1994–1999)
• Mike Beams – guitar, vocals (1998–2005)
• Derrel Houdashelt – guitar (1991–1996)
• Ben Marrs – bass (1991–1992)
• Colten Lavallee – bass (1993)
• Matt Widener – bass (1994–1995)
• Steve Szakowski – bass, vocals (1995–1996)
• Matt Connell – drums (2005)
• Col Jones – drums (1990–2003)
• John Longstreth – drums (2004)
• Lorin Ashton – bass (session, 1995)
• Danny Walker – drums (2010)

Discography

Albums

• Gore Metal (1998)
• Slaughtercult (2000)
• Anatomy Is Destiny (2003)
• Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated (cover album) (2005)
• All Guts, No Glory (2011)
• Necrocracy (2013)

EPs and splits

• Excreting Innards (7") (1992)
• Split cassette with Haemorrhage (1995)
• In the Name of Gore (split CD with Hemdale) (1996)
• Blood And Alcohol (split 7" with Pale Existence) (1996)
• Chords of Chaos (4-way split with Ear Bleeding Disorder, Necrose, and Excreted Alive) (1997)
• Instruments of Hell (split 7" with No Comply) (1997)
• Indignities to the Dead (split 7" with Pantalones Abajo Mereneros) (1997)
• Totally Fucking Dead (split 7" with Nyctophobic) (1998)
• Tales of the Exhumed (split 7" with Retaliation) (1998)
• Split 7" with Sanity's Dawn (2000)
• Split 7" with Gadget (2001)
• Deceased in the East/Extirpated Live Emanations (live split 10" with Aborted) (2003)
• Something Sickened This Way Comes / To Clone and to Enforce (split 7" and 3" CD with Ingrowing) (2006)

Compilations

• Platters of Splatter (double album) (2004)

Demos

• Dissecting the Caseated Omentum (1992)
• Goregasm (1992)
• Untitled (1992)
• Untitled (1993)
• Grotesque Putrefied Brains (1993)
• Horrific Expulsion of Gore (1994)

References

External links

• Official blog
• Exhumed on Myspace
• Exhumed at Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Official Exhumed forum