Except One strikes back with a second album.
After a first full-length in 2018, Estelle (vocals), Junior (guitar), Tim (guitar), Crypp (bass) and Naty (drums) are ready to unveil us Broken, which they auto-produced too.
The album begins with Hollow, a short introduction which progressively makes us sink into the band’s universe with worrying sonorities, then Thorns strike with all the rage and the strength of a devastating groove. Modern tones and howlings melt to an oppressive dissonance and Old School roots, creating a very hooking controlled chaos while unveiling technicality hints. The song will slow down before the coming of Silent Scream, another composition with raw effectiveness and jerky riffs, which sounds promising for crowds. The sound is very catchy but also sometimes airy, just like the unhealthy and majestic In Nomine, offering energetic and aggressive parts. Backing vocals offer the song its dark side, then the sound bursts into fire again on Blood of the Underdogs, a composition which places raw effectiveness and Deathcore tones on the foreground. Visceral screams melt to the vocalist’s cavernous screams, creating an interesting vocal diversity before Broken comes to darken the atmosphere with a mystical and oppressive interlude. Chaos comes next and allows musicians to get unleashed with burning and violent riffs shaped for the stage, but mysterious sonorities are also part of the game. The seizing contrast accompanies us until the end of the track, but also on Still Alive, a weighing and dark track. The song is quite accessible while allowing musicians a total musical creativeness, injecting various and as virulent as catchy influences, then Seeds of Revolt melts heavy sonorities with heady leads. The song is also perfect for a scenic show, mixing the different aspects of the band’s music under a near constant blast and powerful howlings, then Void closes the album with rage completed by hypnotic harmonics. Massive strikes will undoubtedly provoke motivated headbangs when the band will play on stage, and after a haunting lead the soft outro let us come back to ourselves.
With this second full-length, Except One is playing the effectiveness card, and it works. Broken is a compendium of controlled brutality which is sometimes melted to dissonant leads of airy parts, but which always promise to break necks.
85/100