California’s long-running death grind outfit Exhumed returns with Red Asphalt, their ninth full-length album of original songs. I left out some of their covers/retrospective albums. The band has remained intact since 2018, and with Matt Harvey (vox/guitars), leading the charge, his band of goremongers- Ross Sewage (vox/bass), Mike Hamilton (drums), and Sebastian Phillips (guitars) return with yet another vicious slab of death grind.

Check out the creative album cover, most likely due to some punk not following the laws of driving, and ended up as a slab of death and slime on the ground. The person was probably eating a McRib, while driving, their hands getting all saucy and the steering wheel slipping right outta their hands…BOOM!!!!

Exhumed is always fun to listen to and is brutal as well. Well-played death grind has to have catchy and well-written songs, and Exhumed ALWAYS brings it. 10 songs in 37 minutes, “Unsafe at Any Speed”, starts with some brash drums and the dual vocals of Matt (higher rasps) and Ross with the gutturals are a well-oiled machine. After some mid-paced moments, the blast beats erupt with the dual vocals, still bringing back those early Carcass vibes. Terrific guitar solos, taking us back to the Carcass Heartwork era, big time, this moment bringing forth more melody than what one is accustomed to from Exhumed. The blasting continues and is tight AF. It’s a pleasant surprise to also have both vocal styles mixed in as well as what we get here. The low ends are not buried.

The title track starts with more melodic Carcass-inspired moments, as this song is mid-paced with terrific guitar melodies. At the 2.18 with the brief isolated guitar riff, we go right into a perfectly timed blast beat. The song settles into a vintage galloping head banging moments, which brings a smile to my face, since I love these moments. More melodic guitar soloing, then right into more blasting.

“The Iron Graveyard” starts with an opening. I was expecting a blast beat, but nope. Into a gallop, then the blast hits, and the guitar riffing is razor sharp, again with snippets of melody tossed in for good measure. Galloping, blast, rise, repeat. I am a sucker for these types of tempo shifts. Yet another killer song.

“Crawling from the Wreckage”, with the isolated distorted bass guitar, is excellent, as the powerful groove hits…Oh, in case you were wondering Exhumed have crafted what could be considered a concept album, as pretty much each song speaks of the horrors of vehicular accidents, as well as some transients, who get off on being at those types of crime scenes. This song has a fair amount of blasting, melodic soloing, and the last 30 seconds of this tune are intense.

“The Fumes” brings the madness to a close. Excellent isolated guitar riffing and a slow gallop of sorts take center stage for the duration. One will not be able to stop headbanging to this tempo, while also doing some fist-banging mania. More guitar solos erupt, then back into the gallop. The double bass drums, over these moments, are effective. If anything, this song has more in common with traditional heavy metal than true extreme metal. The nods to classic metal bands are quite intriguing. One would maybe expect the band to end as brutally as they started. But not here. Exhumed is mixing things up for us long-time fans.

Red Asphalt sees an even more mature Exhumed, as they whip out more melody on this album than maybe what we are used to. Make no mistake, there are tons of high velocity blasts across the album, just more melody inserted throughout the album.

Exhumed never disappoints, one of the few bands, and christ I have been listening to them for 20 years, that have never released a disappointing album. I also give kudos to make an album with all the titles tying into the album cover. Excellent. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?!? Kick ass album!

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