Exhorder's "The Law" isn't groove metal

First Post April 13, 2024 09:10 PM

"Exhorder's underrated sophomore album 'The Law' is often overlooked due to its links to groove metal but I have to say that those statements are heavily overstated. There's really only one groove metal track included on the album (i.e. closer '(Cadence) Of The Dirge') with most of the remainder being far too fast, thrashy & aggressive to warrant a groove metal tag. I honestly feel that a lot of these links are reached for due to the fact that Pantera clearly drew their sound from Exhorder & you can easily hear that here with the vocals sounding exactly like Phil Anselmo, the guitar tone sharing certain characteristics & the groovier riffs taking on a similarly angular format. But the thrash metal model should allow for the inclusion of some groovier riffs without having to receive additional genre tagging in my opinion & there's simply not enough groove metal here to warrant it as far as I can see."

https://metal.academy/hall/489