The umbrella under which we collect that which cannot be grasped by reason begins to overtake the senses in the form of mass hypnoses. Impossible to solve in-quests based in absurdist conflict are hyper-fed to nascent thinkers, posited between no longer benevolent overseers and their herded-low generational competition. The weight of collective knowledge has been dropped hard enough to shatter in favor of control, the crooked-handed carve of obscure and incomplete realities which constitute altered states of mind and broken points of view for future kin. This conflict between ancient wisdom and youth’s currency is reflected per a few degrees of inception on Trutnov, Czechia-based thrash metal quartet Exorcizphobia‘s fourth full-length album, their apex statement now having developed into prime classics-minded gear for nearly two decades. ‘Spiritual Exodus‘ entertains a variety of themes which breach the paradox of the absurd, repeating history, reincarnating auld exploration of unknowable answers on this tuneful yet aggressive thrash metal record.

Exorcizphobia formed circa 2006 after the original trio, lead by guitarist/vocalist Tomáš Skořepa decided to move on from their brief life as a covers-based gig (Deathmarch), add a second guitarist and gave it about three years to brew within live shows before they’d record anything serious. At that point they’d managed some precise enough study of mid-to-late 80’s thrash metal with a lean towards the New Jersey/Bay Area paradigm on their debut mLP (‘Disease Inside‘, 2009), not the most essential release in their discography overall but made interesting for its use of a few unique chord shapes (for the style) and a decent Overkill-esque feeling on a couple pieces. Fast forward a few years and they were kinda hitting the pizza thrasher side of things in terms of lyrics and crossover-edged songs on their debut LP (‘Something is Wrong‘, 2012). At that point I’d normally just duck out, I mean if a band with a “fun” edge to their sound doesn’t miss (see: Stone, Wehrmacht etc.) in terms of their songcraft and playing I’m not into it and while ‘About Us Without Us‘ (2018) cleaned up the band’s act their whole gig wasn’t aiming for rocking early 90’s thrash n’ alt-rock grooves and those records couldn’t hope to get any replay value from me despite having improved leaps and abounds in the years between as line-up changes permitted. There’d been no certain direction communicated up ’til then but they’d quickly righted the ship from that point on with a new rhythm section and a bigger idea.

The first “serious” and I guess most explosive record from Exorcizphobia came with ‘Digitotality‘ (2020) a big and booming Bay Area-attuned but increasingly late 80’s Nuclear Assault-sized thrash record which I’d written about briefly as I recapped some of the most overlooked underground thrash of that year: “What struck me most about this record was that these guys are entirely pro, they can play and write brilliant pure thrash metal songs without breaking a sweat and all of it sounds brutally intense. I’d just wanted this album to “breathe” a bit more than it did. […] I’d found this album might not have been too unique but it was pure adrenaline throughout and worthy of a mention.” The real energizer of that record was probably the title track, an unexpected melodic piece that kept the energy up and either way it’d felt like the band had retained their core personality but put it to better use over the course of that record. In most perceptible ways ‘Spiritual Exodus‘ upholds the tone and energy of its predecessor while polishing up the production values, writing slightly more involved pieces and singing in an increasingly tuneful way without losing the bark of pure thrash metal.

‘Spiritual Exodus‘ is suggested as picking up where ‘Digitotality‘ left off in a few different ways but the most notable up front is the enriched sound design (per engineer Jindrich Tomanek and mix/master from Martin Hollandr) which focuses on parity between loud and engaging lead guitar tones where bent chords and heavier overdriven rhythm guitars march up front with the vocals as the rhythm section stands a few feet back. Opener “Initiation” leads with a largely instrumental introduction to the album a piece which only needs its last two minutes to make its mark beyond a set of dramatic riffs in approach of the song’s midpoint. Yes, granted this all should just as well hit normal-as-Hell for the longtime thrash metal fandom but the energy is undeniably there and the album really hits its first considerable spark with the memorable shout-along double-bass throttled aggression of “Violence and War”, a piece which is flawless in its Bay Area-sized reach (self-eating groove and all) apart from some lacking lead guitar noodling earlier in the song. A face value judgement could be fairly made here getting steamrolled by the first few songs, taking in that insane cover art from maestro Paolo Girardi, and especially appreciating how Exorcizphobia have kept their over-active imagination intact but reigned in their presentation of each song, making an event of each one rather than just hammering through.

My favorite piece on the album, “Reflections“, is one of the easier to grasp shorter-length cuts on the record and one which has at least a small taste of Skořepa‘s admiration of Voivod not only in the main verse guitar lines but in the vocal melody which follows. Intense enough to entertain, melodic enough to remember and delivered with a bit of tact this is not so much ‘new’ in feeling from the band but rather a freshened moment that extends the seams where thrash metal rarely dares. At the same time “Down the Rabbit Hole” reminds us that this is a modern day thrash crew and their work isn’t that far from the stuff that came about after groups like Municipal Waste began searching for staying power. The wah-whiffed leads and bouncy Anthrax‘d riffs don’t fully work for my taste but this isn’t a band choice of a hook for the mid-album stretch. The lyrics reach a peak of quintessential globalist paranoia and I’m there for it, no mention of lizard people yet so we’re still in the realm of the good stuff, rational but exaggerative in the best way.

“It is hard to recognize the truth amongst all of these lies” — Big-stomper “Those Who Oppose” reminds us that this is the same songwriting core that’d put out ‘About Us Without Us‘ as the sort of early 90’s metal/alt-metal side of Skořepa‘s vocals, though I’d argue that this piece is far more conscious of a well-rounded heavy rock song structure and does well to deliver a memorable piece which isn’t a circa ’91 Metallica piece in nature. Shades of a similar era of Testament and Death Angel probably apply better overall if we look at the inner workings of that piece and the speedier scrub of “Ring-Pass-Not“, the last peak of interest on the album for my own taste. “Through a Glass Darkly” speaks the same language, the voice of the album becomes a bit unrelenting despite the variety of arrangement remaining inspired and while this piece might’ve been a prime closer the ~7 minute instrumental that closes the album feels like a door shut twice. Overall I’d felt like the full listen had me tagging along with its tirade well enough but became indulgent, overstated by the end. This shouldn’t bug anyone who could already hang with ‘Digitotality‘.

At best most Bay Area/New Jersey feelin’ throwback thrash metal bands these days serve as dry reminder to pick up ‘Victims of Deception‘, ‘Twisted Into Form‘ and the first four Overkill records once a year and check out, at least on my part, but ‘Spiritual Exodus‘ continues this thread where Exorcizphobia come dangerously close to reaching both the energy and the profundity of the late 80’s brains-engaged level of classic thrash. Their increasingly refined work warrants tucking into the overflowing thrash section of my shelves even if I’d found the whole deal long winded (at ~39 minutes, eh) yet engaging in a persistent way having brought the best of their ability to a highly professional but never overwrought craft. A rarity and a great time for folks with serious affinity for traditional yet not plainly ‘retro’-imitative thrash. A moderately high recommendation.

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