EXTORT
EXTORT “Reset”
By Dr. Abner Mality
During my recent chat with James McBain of Scotland’s HELLRIPPER, I asked him if there was any Scottish metal talent we should be aware of. He proceeded to unpack a pretty sizable list of names, leading me to believe that the scene in the land of haggis might be ready to take off.
EXTORT was not one of those listed but they, too, are from Scotland. Their debut EP “Reset” has some bumps in it but also some promise. The EP can reach a wide metal audience from underground dogs to fans of somewhat more accessible acts. With first song “Lunacy”, I was surprised by how much it reminded me of the much-missed PRO-PAIN, right down to the bellowing vocals of Seb. The song has a lot of straight up hardcore thump to it but with some surprising melodic digressions. On the whole, I’d call EXTORT a mix of hardcore, modern groove thrash in the L.O.G. vein and a whiff of modern radio rock. Although it has some real heavy moments, don’t expect black or death metal from these guys.
“Skyscrapers” and “Omen” have some interesting guitar melodies, but when the vocals drop to a cleaner sound, the power goes out, because it sounds like the typical “growl/clean” stuff being dished out by a million other bands. Seb should stick to the roars because those are done well. I am impressed with the overall sound of the EP, which is pretty professional for a first time outing. The record wraps up with the aggressive groove of “Conjurer”, which has surprisingly majestic riffs in spots, and “Variant”, which has a pretty typical and not too original LAMB OF GOD kind of thrust.
For a first self-released EP, “Reset” is not bad at all, but with work, EXORT could be yet another strong name from that burgeoning Scottish scene.