Exterminatus – Echoes From a Distant Star Pt I
Release Date: 18th April 2025
Label: Independent
Bandcamp
Genre: Technical Death Metal
FFO: Archspire, Allageon, Last of Lucy.
Review By: Andy Spoon
In the same flow as several others in the genre, Echoes from a Distant Star – Part I (hereinafter, Echoes) explores the abyssal science fiction horror themes that rely on the extremity of its technical nature to explore some of the killer visuals and thematic elements of the Arthur C. Clarke literature (space exploration, futuristic science fiction/horror). It’s all blended into a furious hurricane of technical assault from every single angle, ultimately making a very enjoyable album that ought to put Exterminatus in your ongoing playlist, and look forward to Part II of the same. The self-released Echoes from a Distant Star – Part I is set to be released on April 18th, 2025.
One of my favorite parts of the album was the absolutely insane groove-based track Starbound, which seemed to get me extra worked up with its total insanity and headbang-worthy drum tracks at near-lightspeed. I was super impressed with the technical prowess of the entire album, the double layer vocals, the stereo guitar attack, and the extra-speedy drum work, which all came together in a melting pot of sci-fi abyssal dread that really can’t be understated. I think that people really need to spend the time and put Exterminatus on the same playlist as bigger tech death bands like Archspire.
The guitars’ rapid staccato and matching drum attack are absolutely spellbinding. It’s not often that a tech death album can achieve the technical level of face melting goodness that it’s present on every damned track of Echoes. The vocal attack by Luka Bresan is especially-impressive, having a gigantic variety of layers, from his raspy high register technique to deep, bassy death metal growling. One of the things that really reminded me of Archspire, a staple in the tech death community, is Bresan’s ability to perfectly match the vocal attack and syntax with the rhythmic stabs on many of the tracks, giving an additional layer of instrumentation to each of the segments in which it’s employed. I always remember cracking a smile as I heard this, appreciating the time and forethought it must have taken to nail that in recording.
Echoes is not particularly long, having only 8 tracks across its run time, but I am starting to appreciate the short-and-sweet albums out there, getting to the point, and never filling the entire album full of meaningless interlude tracks that might turn 8 solid tracks into 13, annoying the listener with stupid tracks that are just gentle pads, or ominous “Water dripping in a cave” sound bytes. Echoes was all business until the end, save for a tech death cover of “Rock me Amadeus” notably one of the worst metal songs in the history of the genre. I enjoyed the levity at the end of the album. Ultimately, that might make Echoes only a 7 track album, but I don’t really want to subtract any points from that, as the album was absolutely killer.
Overall, I really enjoyed Echoes From A Distant Star – Part I, and would absolutely tune in for whatever future parts that Exterminatus wants to offer. This is proper technical death metal, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It really needs multiple listens to get through the technical expertise that’s been demonstrated. I think that I might have honestly wished for a bassier mix, but that seems to come down to personal preference. I respect the album’s overall tone and am extremely impressed that an album of this quality is being released without record label support. If anything, it ought to show listeners that Exterminatus is as legit as anyone in the subgenre.
(4.5 / 5)
