Several months ago, at the Rockwerk festival in Liverpool’s Barfly, Exit Ten had a fair claim to stealing the show with their phenomenal set. Now with the release of the E.P ‘This world, they’ll drown’ where many bands have to make the transition from recording to a live medium, Exit ten have to capture their energy, abandon and weight on record. Have they been successful? Categorically the answer is yes, but more interestingly they have achieved much more.
It becomes obvious from the opening sweep of ‘Softwatch’ that sonically everything is in place, at times drenched in heavy guitars but never mired, freeing the vocals to pull, contort and sever the lyrics. Every musician is moving within there own space, independent but cohesive and always propelling the song.
Exit ten’s most potent attribute is their vocals; mixing metal core screaming’s with heart searing honesty as is shown by vocalist Ryan when he really cuts close on ‘A path to take.’ At times there are elements of Brian Molko amidst the anguished strength of the heavier moments and a real sense of personality. Things really come to bear with ‘Resume ignore’ with it’s almost mathematical riff and landscape scope.
‘Fine night’ is unquestionably one of the many highlights and is an exercise in controlled force and passion and has to be one of the best songs this genre has heard in some time. You get the feeling however that Exit ten are more concerned with songwriting than genres or trends, and could deftly step out of the shadows and become something truly special.
You can be sure to expect mighty things from Exit ten - if this is how good the E.P is, just how good will a full length album be?
