Band Name: Exercitum
Title: Exercitum
Date of Release:
Record Label: Independant
Genre: Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Website: https://www.facebook.com/exercitumband/app_2405167945
Reviewed by: Geoff McGraw
Track listings: 1. Eternal Nightmare 2. Driving With The Devil 3.Metal And Lace 4. Every Second Of Silence 5. Take Me Home 6. War Cry 7. Anubis 8. Save Me From Myself
Exercitum is a 4 piece and hails from Queens, NY. They consist of James Ryder as front man and gutarist, Joey Pagano playing guitar, Jack Draven (no relation to Eric) on Bass, and C.K. Reed swinging the sticks.
The band claims their influences to be among others Preist, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Sabbath and Van Halen. Although they probably wouldn't want to admit it (and really few among us would), there is also more than just a little hair band in their metal and roll.
An energetic group, they are still working out their sound, there is some genre different approaches between songs. Some tunes are more metal and others are more rock. They have a bombastic approach that I'm sure plays well in front of a crowd. Straight ahead rock riffs and soloing firmly rooted in blues rock that will interest fans of 80's rock and hair metal. Vocalist Ryder tends to favor keys that are slightly minor and atonal, which gives the songs a heavier feel than would be otherwise.
There seem to be a few missteps in recording, maybe due to time constraints or perhaps just due to inexperience. A stray bit of guitar solo or other part that seems out of place, unrehearsed, or perhaps just needing another take appear here and there within the album. These are the exception though and not the rule.
Production on the album is not bad for what I assume was self produced, the quality is very good for a self produced and released album. Guitar, vocals and drums tend to stand out while the bass gets a bit lost in the mix. The 2 songs that stood out for me were War Cry and Anubis. With the strong start Anubis has it might have been better placed at the beginning of the album and I would rank it as the best song on the album.
Exercitum has a lot of potential. With a producer or someone to push them in the right direction sonically their next offering should begin to see that potential pay a dividend. This disc is worth the buy, it could very well end up a collectors item in your collection next to the labeled releases. You'll definitely want to learn the lyrics so you can sing along when you see 'em live.
6 of 10 horns \m/
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