Xile - Album Review: I Am Your God
Last weekend I was at
Whammy Bar in Auckland to see the album release show for Xile’s I Am Your God.
Thanks to a certain pandemic this album almost slipped out with people not
realising, as it was released in May 2020 back when everyone in NZ was in
lockdown. The guys never had the opportunity to tour it at the time, something
they have rectified in 2022 with a nationwide tour, bringing the brutality to
the masses. But back then the band had been through major changes and had been
reduced to singer Luke Manson, who composed all the material and also provided
guitars, and bassist Lee Waddingham while Thy Art drummer Lee Stanton was a
guest.
This is one nasty album, showing that Slayer in particular have had a major impact on their overall sound, being way more metallic than most hardcore bands. There is incredible depth to this, built around death-style double kick drums, guitars and bass locked in tight, and then hardcore gruff vocals over the top. One can certainly imagine fans of Cannibal Corpse getting a lot from this, as it is relentless and punishing throughout. If ever an album was designed to get the mosh going, then this is it, with the ten tracks blasting past in just 25 minutes. It certainly never sounds like a duo, as this is a powering monster which is brutal, and playing this, I can visualize what I experienced last week when the audience were a sweaty mess and the mosh was full on.
This is so savage it is almost
primeval, with the production deliberately kept raw so one can feel the edge,
and Luke putting his very being on the line. It feels incredibly personal, with
Luke giving it his all on the vocals and Lee W and Lee S creating the platform
for the guitars. There is a great deal going on in here, with death metal
mixing with breakdown, taking hardcore in a very different direction from many
others in the scene, while some of the twin guitar licks are quite black metal
in nature. They are taking the more brutal elements from different genres and
then combining them in a way which ensures everything is pushed to the max, to
the extreme. Now the pandemic is over, and Xile have become a fully-fledged
supergroup, let’s hope the new line-up get into the studio soon and record the
next savage chapter as this is one heck of a debut and I am sure they are only
going to get more ferocious as they keep touring.
About Xile
Xile blend in the flavors of European Beatdown and Death Metal to create their own brutal, yet polished sound to create a Hardstyle of their own.
Releasing their debut album I Am Your God in March 2020 amidst the global pandemic the band wouldn't play the IAYG release shows until late 2022.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Xile
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