2024 is the 16 year anniversary of EXHUMATION, the brilliant Indonesian Death Metal band. “Master’s Personae” is their fourth full length and their second release on Pulverised Records. I bought their first full length sometime in the mid 2010’s. I played the “Hymn To Your God” CD a lot back then. Having known them for over a decade and being an ardent fan of the band, I’m excited to be writing this. First and foremost, Metal music from Indonesia doesn’t need any introduction, amongst the South East Asian countries, Indonesia and Thailand have arguably produced some of the finest releases and continues to do so. I’m delighted to confirm “Master’s Personae” joins the ranks of the aforementioned finest releases. EXHUMATION haven’t lost their touch, they haven’t misplaced their anger or their method of approaching Death Metal as a whole. They continue to be an insanely tight, riff oriented band and still have no regard for the normality outside. The band is insanely focussed on their vision and has managed to execute it to near perfection on every single release. That’s probably an overstatement, but having been listening to them for so long, I can only admire what EXHUMATION does from a distance. The two piece Death Metal crew has put together a carefully crafted, Death Metal release that appeals to a really wide fan base of the genre. The old school fans would embrace the approach, the songwriting and the raw hatred that the band spews on every single track. The new age fans would connect with the untamed aggression, production and the overall approach. Pulverised Records have a brilliant release on their hands with “Master’s Personae”, we know the music is hard hitting, but it’s also soulful enough to sit down and consume it all. I do have one point to mention, I’d have loved an even dirtier production, but what we hear on this album works for what the band aims to do. One of the absolute highlights of the album is track # 5, ‘The Martyr’s Lament’, a gentle guitar based instrumental which could pass off for a Blues track on any other album. It gives a nice respite in between the sonic assault, but more than that, it gives us a glimpse into the minds of the musicians behind the project. It makes a lot of sense EXHUMATION are the way they are! Firstly, I’m incredibly happy they’ve got some new music out and secondly, I’m glad the band hasn’t strayed away from their path after all these years. Recommended! For more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/exhumationdevotee, www.facebook.com/pulverisedrecords