From Eden to Exile—Modern Disdain (2017)

Details

Debut album produced by Neil Hudson (Krysthla/Gutworm) at Initiate Audio and Media. Released on Attic Records/PHD. Released Friday 2 June 2017.

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Band

Matt Dyne—Vocals
Tom Kelland—Guitars
Mike Bell—Guitars
Joey Jaycock—Bass
Liam Turland —Drums

Tracks

Gospel untold
Modern disdain
Volatile
Victim
The dreamer
From Eden to exile
What you’ve done
Sentiment

Review

Having won the Corby finals of Bloodstock’s ‘Metal 2 the Masses’ competition in 2015, Northampton metallers From Eden to Exile appeared that year on the Bloodstock “New Blood” stage. Since then they seem to have gone from strength to strength, having been taken under the wing by Krysthla (and former Gutworm) guitarist and producer Neil Hudson to help produce this storming modern British metal album.

When asked about the experience vocalist Matt Dyne said, “It’s been an extraordinary time. We’ve taken our time and sweated bullets nailing this album to the point where everyone in the band can honestly look each other in the eye and confidently state this is the best of us, right now.”

“Yet there’s much more in the tank”, continued guitarist Tom Kelland, “Working with Neil [Hudson] at Initiate really opened our minds as to the possibilities with our music. The boxes we may have felt confined to in the past have been stripped away and we firmly believe we’ve got something really solid to offer the metal community.”

And it certainly shows.

I’ve been listening to this album off and on for the last couple of months and it’s really hard to fault. Modern Disdain is a solid album with enough certainly to keep me interested. Musically this album sits somewhere on the border between Lamb of God’s flavour of American groove metal and metalcore.

An almighty battering of the snare drum, barked lyrics, and a riff played at breakneck speed, “Gospel untold” (track 1) kicks off this album, as so many track 1s do. It reminds me very much of something from one of the early Lamb of God albums, until about 1′ 20″ when with a curt chugga-chugga the pace changes slightly and veers off into a more metalcore neighbourhood. I love the guitar solo on this song. It is rich and warm, it sours and adds something melodically beautiful to the soundtrack to the apocalypse that is raging beneath it.

Title track “Modern disdain” (track 2) opens with quite an acid, sour disharmony. Its stop-start metalcore riff morphs into an almost Exodus-style riff but with deep, Chuck Billy (Testament)-style, growling vocal. There are so many influences within this track but as a whole the song doesn’t feel contrived or stolen. Another soaring guitar solo marks the descent towards the track’s end.

“Volatile” (track 3) is another super-fast track that initially has quite a Slayer vibe to it. You can watch the video, below. About 1′ 25″, though, the sound gets stripped back to just a riff, and then gradually builds, steering towards a very shouty-metalcore sound, before returning to its original, galloping behemoth of a riff.

Track 4, “Victim” takes a different approach to what has come before. It has an almost epic, traditional heavy metal opening—think Powerslave-era Iron Maiden. It builds gradually, it has melody, duelling guitars. It then switches step into a metalcore gallop that weaves in and out of a Low-era Testament style riff. Overall, the track holds itself together but it doesn’t quite seem to understand itself. Maybe I’m wrong and I’ll return to this track in a few months with some kind of blinding epiphany, but having lived with it for a couple of months it, unfortunately, feels like one of the weaker songs on the album. I do rather like the start-stop descending riff outro, though.

“The dreamer” (track 5) is built around an old-school thrash style riff or two. It’s the shortest track on the album, but it gets in there, does its job, and gets out again.

Of bands that have songs titles that are the same as their band name, off the top of my head, I can think of only Iron Maiden and Motörhead. And now “From Eden to exile” (track 6). Unfortunately, this isn’t the most iconic track on the album. It doesn’t have the same punch or drive as any of the tracks on the first half of the album—it feels, sadly, like a bit of an album filler.

“What you’ve done” (track 7) picks up the pace, with a handful of galloping riffs that wouldn’t feel too out of place on a Slayer record. About a third of the way through, it drops to a halftime tempo and a Pantera-style arpeggio that in the 90s would undoubtedly have been accompanied by a rich, deep voice spoken over the top of it. Each time I listen to this track I find myself grumbling some made-up metal nonsense libretto over the top of this passage. Back to the main riff, fade to black…

Album closer, “Sentiment” (track 8) is a strong track. It has a bit more urgency and drive than the rest of the second half of this album. It’s also one of the most Lamb of God-sounding tracks on the album, which is perhaps why it’s one of my favourites.

Conclusion

This album is, for me at least, very much a game of two halves. The first four tracks are really strong, and while I’m not a massive fan of metalcore—although I do love thrash and hardcore separately—From Eden to Exile do steer their sound close enough to thrash for me to really appreciate it.

What lets things down for me a bit is the second half of the album. While the songs, for the most part are still strong and interesting, they seem to lose focus a little around tracks six and seven. Thankfully, things are brought back into line with the final track on the album which closes the work nicely.

Overall, though, this is an album that I could quite happily return to again and again. This album is proof that metal isn’t dead yet, that it still relevant, and that British bands still have a lot to give.

From Eden to Exile are definitely a band to keep an eye on in the future, both live and recorded.

Review score: 90%

Video

Disclaimer

Stampede Press UK contacted me a few months back, inviting me to preview From Eden to Exile’s forthcoming debut album.

I have no connections to either Stampede Press UK or From Eden to Exile. I’m not being paid to review this. But I did get a free digital copy of the album to review—which is pretty cool.

Many thanks to Rob from Stampede Press UK, and From Eden to Exile.