Exit Empire
s/t

Exit Empire from The Czech Republic figured that their deluxe edition of the self-titled debut album could be a good match for Hallowed. How could we resist such a notion? And when they send a CD with some extras it gets even harder to resist and now I have played this album for a few times. The regular edition was released in the latter days of 2017 and this deluxe album some half year later and in this deluxe version you will find three different versions of album tracks as bonus. One of these tracks is an acoustic version, then we have a stripped version of a different track, and in the end there is a track remixed by Gregory House. And I should also add to this that it is an album that has a greater artwork than the regular edition.

Xylophone isn’t a prominent part (or any part) of this album but I can promise you that you will hear many things and influences from different genres and styles, Exit Empire is a band that is fairly difficult to place in one category. Perhaps electronicore that was used by some writer to describe the band Crossfaith is the greatest match for this band’s style. They mix post-hardcore with electronics and power with catchiness and so on, modern heavy rock music perhaps, and it is well produced and with a pretty good vocalist. The focus is on strong and inspirational lyrics, and the album offers good variation and for once I even think that the strong bonus tracks we hear towards the end are good. I usually don’t really like alternate versions like this but the variation they add also give much additional depth to the album.

I think that it is a good album, and not only the music but the little inspirational story that comes as an additional booklet is a great addition to the package. And I would say that this deluxe edition is a really deluxe album with very strong music all the way through. It feels fresh and exciting with well-balanced music and everything, and I don’t think this album has any weaknesses – all the tracks are really good and you can certainly play this album over and over again without getting bored with it. Perhaps those that are into more standardised heavy rock or metal might find this a bit too modern and excessive but who cares about them? I think that it is great.

 Towards the end I can also add that I think the seventh track called Please Us All is the best one of the album and it also comes as a house remix to end the album so you get almost twice that track even though the house version is less good but it says something about the band I think. And I think that this album is well worth checking out as it has some excellent music and a positive mood that I really like, and Please Us All is one of my favourite tracks of the year just to add something more to that. It is a great package that I think can be well worth checking out, Exit Empire makes a rather impressive album.

HHHHHHH