Hello from Heavy Metal Heaven! Today we have the immense pleasure of hosting a dazzling gem of technical, melodic and progressive death/thrash metal, wonderful in every sense! Sci-fi alike: this is the best term to describe Exogalactic, Xoth's third album. And it's not just for the themes adopted by this group born in 2014 in Seattle, oriented to spatial themes often linked to Lovecraftian mythology. His music is also pure science fiction, something that can easily be defined as "out of this wor
ld", at least in a metaphorical way. As we have repeated many times on Heavy Metal Heaven, we have little love for the technique just for its own sake: yet, Exogalactic is the exact opposite. It is not lacking in complexity, indeed its hectic death/thrash metal proves to be hyper-technical, with the thousand tempo changes present in each song and the tendency to take on progressive features. But it's not just this: there is also a strong tendency towards melody which gives Xoth's music a differe
nt feel than the average of the genre. And also a wide plethora of influences, ranging from black to the most classic metal. The real secret of the Americans, however, is their superior songwriting ability, from every point of view. Each track in Exogalactic is built with absolute mastery to impact and be remembered, even beyond the incredible complexity. Technique and melodies are integrated in such a strong and well-made way that they strike amazingly, thanks to an all-round study that gives e
ach song its strong personality. A task for which Xoth also worked hard in terms of atmosphere, studied in an excellent way, something rarely heard in techno metal. They vary from track to track, and help make each one unique and memorable – which is difficult in general but even more in the group's genre. The result is forty minutes without really a less than great moment. They are so incredible that it was even difficult to look for something that stood out more in the sea of excellence wher
e you get lost in a completely positive way. But in the end we are quite sure in indicating Sporecraft Zero, which knows how to perfectly fit together highly memorable moments of great melody, and others with extraordinary, ecstatic technique, and then Battlesphere. It even manages to be epic, pugnaceous as the title indicates due also to influences from classic metal, while not losing anything of the aggressiveness of death metal nor the melodic touch of Xoth. Also worth mentioning are Reptilia
n Bloodsport, which at the beginning already shows all the facets of the group, or Manuscript of Madness, the most influenced by black metal but having at the same time a noticeable impact. Or The Parasitic Orchestra, even catchy for its genre and at times oneiric; the melodies also dominate the closer-track Map to the Stars, Monument to the Ancients, which with its five and a half minutes has more scope. But in general, as already mentioned, every single episode of the tracklist deserves at lea
st a few words for its qualities. More than anything, we're the ones who are lacking words at this point. What else to say about Exogalactic? It's an absolute masterpiece and one of the best in its genre released last year, no doubt about it. Sure, it's clear as day that Xoth's music isn't for everyone: even though it's more accessible than average technical metal, those who don't like this genre might still find it indigestible. However, if you are a fan of the genre, then there is only one thi
ng we can advise you: run and recover this wonder! Heavy Metal Heaven rating: 97 out of 100! That's all. Have we made you curious about this incredible album? Tell us in the comments, as well as liking and sharing the review. Plus, you can subscribe to our channel and activate the notification bell so you won't miss any of the content we publish every week. Finally, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest: as usual, you can find the links below. See you next time!
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