XERATH

Symphonic Metal • United Kingdom
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XERATH is a symphonic progressive extreme metal act formed in 2007 in Basingstoke, United Kingdom. The band was formed by guitarist Andy Phillips, drummer Michael Pitman and bassist Owain Williams. They were later joined by vocalist Richard Thomson

XERATH signed to Candlelight Records in early 2009 and released their debut full-length studio album called "I," on the 25th of May 2009.

The band play a heavy style of metal with rough vocals, chugging riffs and a bombastic use of symphonic keyboards/synths. Influences from acts such as MESHUGGAH, DIMMU BORGIR and STRAPPING YOUNG LAD are often mentioned and the band themselves call their music orchestral groove metal.

Their second album, "II", was released in 2011.

( Biography written by UMUR)
Thanks to UMUR for the addition and bartosso, adg211288 for the updates

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XERATH I album cover 3.90 | 13 ratings
I
Symphonic Metal 2009
XERATH II album cover 3.59 | 13 ratings
II
Symphonic Metal 2011
XERATH III album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
III
Symphonic Metal 2014

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.. Album Cover
0.00 | 0 ratings
Unite to Defy
Symphonic Metal 2011

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XERATH III

Album · 2014 · Symphonic Metal
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UMUR
"III" is the third full-length studio album by UK symphonic extreme metal act Xerath. The album was released through Candlelight Records in September 2014. It´s the successor to "II" from 2011 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Owain Williams has been replaced by Conor McGouran.

Stylistically "III" s a continuation of the Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend meets Gojira meets Soilwork meets symphonic/Epic movie score music of the preceding Xerath releases. It´s busy and multi-layered music featuring hard edged sharp and heavy grooven laden riffs and rhythms, layers of keyboards, and both screaming, growling, and clean male vocals. The material is well composed, the album is very well produced, and the performances are strong too.

The busy soundscape and almost cinematic quality of the symphonic keyboards (which sometimes remind me of the way Symphony X incorporate classical orchestration to some of their most epic tracks) make "III" a bit of an exhausting listen taking into consideration that the album features no less than 14 tracks and a total playing time of 68:21 minutes. The exhaustion comes from being constantly pummeled by this massive multi-layered soundscape throughout an almost 70 minutes long playing time, and maybe a bit more restraint from Xerath wouldn´t have hurt.

When that is said "III" is still a high quality progressive/groove metal release and fans of any of the above mentioned artists are recommended to give it a listen. Xerath aren´t the most original act in this style, but the quality of their output is arguably of a high class. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

XERATH II

Album · 2011 · Symphonic Metal
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UMUR
"II" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK symphonic extreme metal act Xerath. The album was released through Candlelight Records in April 2011. It´s the successor to "I" from 2009 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Andy Phillips has left. He hasn´t been replaced one to one, but instead Christopher Clark has been added as the band´s new bassist. Guitarist Owain Williams who performed both guitars and bass on the debut album now handles all guitars (and no bass).

Stylistically the material on "II" continue the symphonic extreme metal style of the debut album and it´s still artists like Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lad who come to mind, but with an added orchestral symphonic element (created with synths/keyboards). The basis of the music is brick heavy, featuring sharp and groove oriented riffs and rhythms. The vocals are predominantly high pitched aggressive screaming, but the album also features both deeper growling vocals and a few clean vocal parts. That part of the music is well composed and well performed, but it´s not the most unique sound that Xerath produce. When they add the orchestral symphonic element, which often sounds like something out of an epic movie score, a more original sound is forged. It´s a layered and busy soundscape but Xerath pull if off pretty well (also helped along by a powerful and detailed sound production, which suits the material well).

"II" is upon conclusion a good quality sophomore album by Xerath. The skills, the compositions, and the sound production are all on a high level, and fans of heavily orchestrated and layered extreme metal are recommended to take a listen. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

XERATH I

Album · 2009 · Symphonic Metal
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UMUR
"I" is the debut full-length studio album by UK symphonic extreme metal act Xerath. The album was released through Candlelight Records in May 2009. The band was formed in 2007 and signed to the label in early 2009.

The band play a heavily orchestrated extreme metal style. The extreme metal part of their sound is influenced by the likes of Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lad. Especially chugging groove based angular riffing play a big part on the album. Xerath are no one-trick pony though and the music features influences from all sorts of other artists and musical styles too. Sometimes bordering progressive metal. The classically inspired synth/keyboards work is very impressive and are well integrated with the other parts of the music. Lead vocalist Richard Thomson is quite the asset to the band´s sound. He is a very skilled extreme metal vocalist able to sing in quite a few different styles. The rest of the band are very well playing too.

...the most important thing though is that the music is really powerful and punchy. The symphonic element doesn´t take away any heaviness and just gives the music a slight polished edge and not a power stealing one. The sound production definitely deserves a mention too for helping to achieve this.

Despite the obvious influences heard in the music I´d actually call the music on "I" pretty original or at least inventive and adventurous. It´s not easy to combine heavy riffing and symphonic synths/keyboards and come away successful, but Xerath manage to do just that on "I" and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

XERATH I

Album · 2009 · Symphonic Metal
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Conor Fynes
'I' - Xerath (7/10)

Held as one of the most acclaimed metal debuts in 2009, Xerath comes onto the scene with a fairly exciting sound. Although the djent, Meshuggah-laden sound that Xerath plays was already well trodden by the time this album was released, Xerath adds something new and exciting to it; an orchestral, symphonic backing. It comes as no surprise then, that Xerath holds a very epic sound to them. Xerath has a very professional sound to them, even this early on, and while I found myself very disappointed by their sophomore, Xerath shows alot of potential with this impressive first album.

When describing their sound, I hear the powerful chugging grooves of bands like Gojira and Meshuggah, along with the thrashy grandeur of Strapping Young Lad. On top of that, there is this orchestral sound that follows the metal instruments throughout this album, adding plenty of depth to the sound, although it rarely ever takes a forefront in Xerath's music. Speaking of the band's metal sound, it is heavy and oftimes technical, with plenty of chuggy riffs to make up the meat of the band's sound. The vocals here are growled and screamed, like a less melodic Joe Duplantier (of Gojira). The riffs and instrumentation are focused more on rhythm than melody, although the orchestral element adds a slightly more melodic and harmonious edge. True enough, there are plenty of riffs here that get my head banging, although overall, I find that there could have been some extra melodies or more memorable moments around the album to grasp onto. As it stands, Xerath's 'I' sounds more or less the same all throughout, with the obvious 'Interlude' exception being composed only of the symphonic element.

As far as orchestral sounds go in metal, much of it does pass me as being a gimmick, attempting to get the depth of a symphony, without the effort of a complex arrangement. I experienced that disappointment on the band's second album 'II', but in retrospect, 'I' actually has some very complimentary orchestral elements. It would be somewhat boring without the metal elements, but there is an authentic sound to the symphonic elements, and they have a great effect for the atmosphere. Taking Xerath's music from the orchestral angle, it sounds alot like the incidental music for some science fiction epic soundtrack.

Xerath has made a very professional sounding album here, and at a perfect length for this sort of music, it never gets boring. I would have liked some more variety and a sense of surprise in music like this, as Xerath never changes lanes from the first song to last. They do however have a great grasp of their style on this album, and clever enough to bring something new to the table, this is a band that stands on their own two feet in the crowded djent community.

XERATH II

Album · 2011 · Symphonic Metal
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Conor Fynes
'II' - Xerath (4/10)

Xerath is a band from the UK that got some people excited with their debut. In 2009, the roman-numerically designated 'I' impressed many who listened with its powerhouse take on progressive metal, falling somewhat into what some call the 'djent' sound in metal, but also bringing some new sounds to the table, most notably some orchestral sounds. Technically impressive progressive metal with symphonic undertones is a fascinating formula in concept, and with their follow-up album 'II', Xerath continues to explore this sound. True enough to the acclaim I've been hearing about the band, they certainly know how to bring their skill as musicians to the table. All the same however, I am finding that this band's so-called 'distinctive' elements pass me as being little more than gimmicks, although by all intents, this is a decent contribution to the djent music community.

What one is bound to hear on a song from this album will generally consist of heavy, palm- muted guitar riffs that sound quite a bit like Meshuggah, as well as some screamed vocals and a heavy synth presence. For those uninformed about the djent sound, it is essentially a group of bands that dabble in the strange rhythms and palm-muted guitar techniques that Meshuggah largely pioneered, and as far as emulating Meshuggah's deep grooves go, Xerath succeeds. These are technical riffs that have 'progressive metal' spelled all over them, although despite the technical achievement of these guitar parts, there is very little melodic structure to them, and they start feeling all the same by the time the album is over. While Xerath executes their sound beautifully, the inherent lack of melody or surprise in this music led me feeling the unwanted sense of deja vu long before the album was over, and it makes the album's fifty-odd minute length feel much longer than it actually is.

The thing that many have been really swooning over with this band are the so-called orchestral elements. Xerath self-proclaims themselves to be 'orchestral groove metal', and while they do have the effective repetition and groove aspect down, the orchestral element here was what really disappointed me. Instead of a full blown symphonic arrangement or even fleshed string section as the term 'orchestral' implies, I was confronted by fairly cheap- sounding emulations, most likely either done on a computer, or with a synth. It's quite understandable that a working band is not often able to afford an orchestra, but things could have still worked out brilliantly if the arrangements here were anything that truly lived up to an orchestral standard. Instead, there is no symphonic element that gets me even close to thinking I'm hearing an orchestral score, usually, the orchestra is merely adding a deeper sound miles behind the metal aspect of Xerath, sustaining a note and then changing with the chords. The symphonic presence here does add a new depth to the band's sound, but overall, it feels more like a half-successful gimmick to distinguish themselves, rather than a valid artistic accomplishment.

Xerath's 'II' is a well-performed album, but there is nothing to the music that ever really excites me; the djenty tones and proggy metal riffs are all things that have been done much better by other acts doing a similar thing, and while Xerath should be acknowledged for trying to bring something new to the sound, the orchestral thing isn't doing much for them.

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