By It’s our Bandcamp Pick of the Week, featuring (possibly?) the first proper Armenian death metal album, Exileth’s DEATH OF THE ALMIGHTY!
Exileth – DEATH OF THE ALMIGHTY
Genre: Death Metal
Favorite Tracks: “Autumn Leaves,” “Burned Alive,” “Scripted Violence,” “Exileth,” “War Unend”
And Just Like That… He’s here and he’s perfect! I’ve spent enough time in the dusty corners of RYM to peruse various lists of heavy and extreme music by country, and as with almost every other iteration of this sentiment, Armenia is… an afterthought. It’s probably nobody’s fault; as an Armenian-American just getting into all things Armenia, Armenia is one of the most complicated things you could hope to understand, and any definitive opinion expressed online about anything Armenian is going to get you yelled at by people of specific Intra-Caucasus allegiances you didn’t even know possible. Well, kiss my ass, to any who may find me lacking, but in my estimation, Armenia’s first proper metal album is here, a primitive death metal album, no less, and it’s here as my first Bandcamp Pick in a long, long time.
Worship, some may say? Well, sure, all of the signs and signifiers are here. Bass-predicated breakdowns (courtesy of Petros Petrosian, who has what’s tied with Boghos Boghosian for the most Armenian name possible), actual, ‘90s Floridian-style guitar solos (courtesy of Ruben Yerkanyan), a vocal range that respectfully sticks to death metal parameters with virtually no exception (courtesy of Bagrat Sargsyan), and a workhorse but ultimately quietly astounding turn from drummer Hrach Broutian, who transcends mortal form for the late-game grand-slam of “Burned Alive” to “Scripted Violence” to “Exileth” to “War Unend.”
In that four-song run, I hear it all. I hear the reference. I hear the deference. I hear the modern peal of grindcore barking at the gates, I hear the brutal death lineage that toes the line but thankfully (in my opinion) doesn’t cross into post-Soviet porno-slam, I hear slightly out-of-style solos and progressions, I hear… the first fucking metal band from Armenia itself, baby. The unique way in which this effortlessly and seamlessly looks backwards and forwards at the same time is a quintessentially Armenian element. Filled with rage at history writing knowledge of our legacy of pain out of its books, inspired by and yearning for the West with Russia looming large as an influence, ready to prove itself on the world stage, DEATH OF THE ALMIGHTY stands tall. Nostalgic, fresh, retro-fitted, inventive, pissed-off, and distinctly, finally, PRESSINGLY ARMENIAN. DOES IT SOUND LIKE SYSTEM OF A DOWN??? CRUCIALLY NOT REALLY ALMOST AT ALL, EXPECT MAYBE THE OPENING OF “AUTUMN LEAVES,” WHICH KINDA SOUNDS LIKE THE BEGINNING OF “B.Y.O.B.”
Let this live as the first Armenia-Armenian metal album in the spotlight and let it be appreciated as a stellar example of such. Listen to it here.
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