Esodic is a thrash metal threepiece based out of Los Angeles, but was originally formed in Jordan. The band consists of Jordan-born drummer Zed Amarin, together with Americans Kevin McCombs on bass and vocals, and Michael Nolasco on guitar and vocals. They’ve previously released a split with Generichrist and an EP entitled ‘Mirrors of Disgrace’ in 2018.
They are following that up with ‘De Facto De Jure’, a 4-track EP with a runtime of only about 14 minutes. Esodic‘s thrash is influenced with a heavy dose of death metal, but also leaves room for melody like the fabulous solo section in ‘Dirge’.
In past thrash metal reviews, I’ve often stated that it’s a genre where innovation and experimentation can be difficult. Esodic have found a way though. They incorporate Middle Eastern instruments, using the string instruments Oud and Qanon as well as percussion with Riq and Darbuka. It may seem hard to integrate these traditional sounds with modern thrash metal, but they’ve went ahead and done it. All four tracks on this EP are solid, well writen songs and the oriental instrumentation is perfectly integrated. Sometimes they are used to follow the guitar lead, other times the guitar is used as a rhythm instrument while the oriental strings are allowed to shine and get the limelight.
The only downside is that I’m left wanting more. I hope Esodic grow, manage to sign to a label and record a full length record in this style.
Score: 89/100
Leave a Reply