Exa – Left In Shards

Anyone who had followed my writing for the past two decades will know that I’m a big worshipper of a thrash metal. Little can surprise me after listening for, thrash metal in particular, for more than 35 years, so I thought. ‘Surprise’ is probably not the most accurate word to describe my feelings after listening to this material distributed by Hard Life Promotion from The Netherlands. I’m talking of a German thrash band Exa and their second full-length entitled Left In Shards. The album is released almost a year ago, but it’s first relatively recently that it arrived at my doorstep.

Founded as a school-band in 2016, this Berlin-based quartet have released their debut EP Ignite (2018) and a highly acclaimed full-length debut album entitled Cut The Past. This album obviously marked a turning point in the career of this, at the time, young and upcoming band. A couple of years later this highly productive four piece went back in the studio to record a sophomore full-length, Left In Shards, an album which consists of 10 tracks of early 90s thrash metal, heavily influenced by acts such as Testament, Metallica, Exodus, Pantera, Sepultura, and obviously German thrash metal pioneers such as Kreator and Sodom.

The overall sound on Left In Shards is well rounded with many groovy choruses, massive riffing, teutonic bass lines, a machine gun rapid drumming, and often growling and and angry vocals full of rage that is maybe more characteristic for a modern metal and death core?! Meanwhile, their playing and handling of all the instruments (incl. vocals) and production is absolutely supreme with not a second wasted. The album was produced, mixed, and mastered by band’s own vocalist and guitarist Tom Tschernig, with deliberate efforts made to capture the essence of the bands live performance, and it’s here we go back to the ‘surprise’ mentioned above.

Despite of a few different influences they still manage to bring their own style and unique approach to a modern thrash metal. In other words; this foursome from East Berlin never really go too fast, nor do they never dip into a complete ballads.

Left In Shards opens with a nicely built and groovy-laden “Return to Madness”, mainly recognizible for its groove laden bass-line and ditto chorus. Then follows a bit more subtler song called “Under His Eye”. With “Dead Child Eyes“ we are presented for the first real thrash headbanger giving this fresh yet nostalgic feeling. “Hire to Fire” is another typically thrash metal political song, with a classic rage against giant corporations. It even contains a political speech from an American politician. “Mind Free” and “Witch Hunt” are again more pace-out thrash metal sonic assaults, while a self-titled “Left In Shards” is an adrenaline rush song, with a melodic death metal inspired solo and a plenty of other small details that makes this particular track the most stand out, one that you want to play on repeat. “Cease to Exist” is yet another cut on this album with this familiar riff, but also some shrieking vocals and a cool drop solo. I feel as this song is the one that captures the massive energy from the band, and is perfectly suitable for a live performance. Then comes a short interlude piece called “Circadian”. It serves as an introduction to grand finale, “King Terror”. This closing track really impresses with a gorgeous pulsating groove, fine main riff that drives the whole song forward, superb lead guitar work and finally some fine singing. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Exa may not push (thrash) metal boundaries, but the music presented on Left In Shards still sounds fresh and perfectly enjoyable. It is an 37-minutes long explosion of aggressive yet varied thrash metal that gets better with each new spin. It feels as the four guys from Exa are at the top of their game and have total confidence in their abilities. Left in Shards is just another confirmation that the future looks bright and flourishing for Exa, a band that makes no compromises!

For more info on this sophomore ten-tracker from the four guys in Exa visit https://examusic.bandcamp.com/album/left-in-shards as I sincerely hope you won’t hesitate to give it a spin, as this band is worth your attention and support!