EXUL

If there is one recent prog metal act that is the true definition of quality over quantity, it is most certainly Ne Obliviscaris. While they do not release a ton of albums, they are certainly a band to come out of the wood works with some high class prog metal stuff, with 3/4ths of their discography being some albums I consider to be masterpieces. Even what I consider to be their "worst" record, Urn, is still a fantastic album that bands bigger than them would dream of having. If anything really, the fact they can make another hit and run for the fourth time with this year's release of Exul just shows how monstrous this band is, even when they've only released four albums.

Unlike their past three records, Exul is a bit different, going slightly away from the melodic extreme metal ideals that was found on Citadel and Urn, to favor a more symphonic death metal approach, giving a bit more attention on the more beautiful and epic nature the band, specifically Tim Charles, brings out for the band. Now, do not fret, this doesn't mean they go a sort of Coma Ecliptic route, and thus have a lot less aggressiveness in the wake, in fact this is still extremely powerful as always, but it holds a different kind of punch for me, and man is it a sweet punch up from their previous albums.

All the music is still strong as ever, Tim's violins and vocals are like bread and butter for my ears, and the prominence of Martino's bass is just chocolate and cheese for me. I think what I just truly adore about this album is just the instrumentation, which is a constant in all Ne Obliviscaris records because they never really stop being incredibly well put together. The compositions on this album, especially with the higher focus on Tim's violins does give this a unique spin of things though, but even then the band manages to mold themselves into this sublime output of musicianship to me that the changes they put forth only results in good luck.

Not only that, but GOOD GOD this is some of the best drumming Dan has put out for the band since Citadel, heck maybe even better than that near perfect record. You can really tell that these musicians, even though they were masters since the debut record, still improved dramatically and thus became even better than what they were 10+ years ago, which is just crazy to me. They really age like a fine wine, that I bet in the next 20 years will still make amazing music even past their prime. The fact this band isn't in some kind of hall of fame, or just generally way more popular is a crime to me because they are certainly some amazing people working on some amazing music.

Honestly, if there is one thing I hate about the record, it is the fact that it makes me want more, so much more of Ne Obliviscaris, but to be fair, if an album makes me feel that way then chances are I think it is fully deserving of the masterpiece status.

Some highlights for the album have to be the two part Misericorde suite, and Graal. Graal especially because it has this one part I really like where the bass gets high pitched and starts to play this little tune in tandem to the symphonics and drums, which is just ear candy for me.

Honestly, front to back, this album is stellar. If there is a band that I cannot recommend enough, it'd have to be this one. Constantly amazing, constantly grand and progressive, and honestly the kings of prog metal this year for me. Go check out Exul, your time will not be wasted for not even a sliver of a nanosecond.