Liste des groupes Doom Death Excruciation (CH) [T]horns

If you take a peek at EXcruciation’s career, you will most likely notice that the band was very active in the beginning of the 90s but due to internal differences they split up on their way to record their debut at the Morrissound Studios in Tampa. From 1991, the band was on hiatus and fans had to wait till 2005 to see their very first album recorded.

Unfortunately, the record missed the scene and the Swiss band is trying to revive again the flame with [t]horns which was released in 2009. EXcruciation are labeled Death Doom which I guess was more fitting to their style when they formed back in 1984.

With [t]horns, we hear more Doom than Death and Eugenio's voice is very similar to that of Anathema’s Darren White on The Silent Enigma. It's no longer pure "Death Metal" grunts but rather a "rocky" voice that has a profound emotional potential. The comparison with The Silent Enigma doesn’t even stop there. [t]horns offer something that could be the missing link between Serenades and The Silent Enigma.

It’s powerful, emotional and the production is fantastic. However, while the Brits sounded more melancholy and nostalgic with some eerie feeling, you can tell the Swiss have had a long life, with its pluses and minuses, since 1984. The Doom feeling is there but it’s adult. The guys have lived, have had hopes and also their good share of disillusions which is very much palpable.

Some parts feel almost bluesy per se but tracks like December 12 or Faith of the Discarded are brilliant Doom Death anthems, of the likes which are seldom made nowadays when everyone praises soporific acts like Mar de Grises or Swallow the Sun. With a Doom scene that today consists of bands going rawer and rawer (Druid Lord, Encoffination) and another one that takes too much from Gothic (see the aforementioned bands), EXcruciation's music feels definitely like fresh air. Going back to the roots of 1990’s Doom Death that had power and romantic vibes, [t]horns is unfortunately born 20 years too late for it to become a classic masterpiece.

Let’s just hope that the Swiss do not succumb to easier or trendier music however scarce their fanbase is because they’ve just served us a fantastic record which each and every fan of early Anathema or My Dying Bride should be acquiring! Brilliant, haunting and powerful. That's all there is to say.