Remember my review of Prosanctus Inferi's debut? Take the main points of that bunch of paragraphs and you pretty much know what I think of Embalmed's upcoming attack Exalt the Imperial Beast. Those looking for even an inch of compromises in their blend of black and death metal, turn away right now.
Exalt the Imperial Beast is nothing but chaotic, incoherent, violent, fast, murky, grindy, underground black / death metal. You could think of the half-improvised first albums by Krieg but with more death metal therein, and you've got this album. While this style can be used with great results, Embalmed's problem here is the production that simply lacks the punch. It is quite muffled, distast and even silent. So not only the music is hard, if at times impossible, to follow: it is also the production that makes it all more challenging. Thus said, I am in the position of not being able to mention any standout tracks whatsoever, but I guess that in the end it's more about the overall atmosphere than fancy song structure and catchy choruses, after all...
Luckily things are kept brief so that not one track passes the mark of three minutes. Luckily because I'm not sure if I could digest more of the same for any longer. The music (or ”music”) isn't really bad in a harassing way, it's just that there's almost nothing to which I could hold onto. It's all a messy blast after another. This is why Exalt the Imperial Beast is worth looking into if you care more about devilish atmospheres rather than compositional qualities. I know there are fans of this barbaric style out there, so in those people's books this album might deserve a couple of stars more.
I guess it could also be worth mentioning that the band has been going on since 1989. Yes, you heard right despite this is their major debut, in 2011. So at least it explains that the lack of structures professional musicianship is intentional; these guys are veterans here...
2 / 5
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