“Cruelty Exalted”, the new EP from the band of the same name, is a fantasy themed Technical Death Metal band who, while they stick true to this style, implements some of the best traits other subgenres have to offer, like the harmony Melodic Death Metal has or the speed and intensity of Black Metal. Featuring Alec Cordero on guitars, Todd Farnham on Bass and Yuri Kondra on vocals.
Instantly, with the first track “Dethroning the Righteous” it becomes obvious the skill this band has as musicians, until about the midway mark, the song is pretty tame really only featuring a very melodic sort of sound, once the song speeds up and jumps into the faster bit though, it's not hard to hear the Technical part of this band. In the last minute, we get to hear everything in overdrive, speeding up even further and surprisingly in this part instead of trying to break into “the craziest solo you'll ever hear” it actually puts a lot more focus on the bass playing to push it along.
“Callum Incendebat” pulls a lot more influence from Black Metal, taking a much more Melodic and harmony inspired approach to the entire song. Imagine the intensity of Darkthrone infused with the melody of Carcass or early In Flames. The song also taps James Benson (Amiensus) to help push along that Black Metal feel.
All-in-all, this is a very solid first release from Cruelty Exalted, full of charm and intensity. With the amount of different styles prevalent throughout this EP, it's hard to not find something you could get behind. The only thing I think that can push this band along is a full time drummer, although it is hard to tell that the drums are programmed, some of the sections do seem a little inhuman.
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