Date: 2022
Total Time: 37:03
Label: Self-Financed

EXUL is a Thrash Metal band from Poland that can be characterized as the secret dream of every metal teenager. The band was created in 2011 by a group of high school friends, playing mostly in local bars and clubs and recording five demo songs. Exactly what every teenager would want to do! When they finished high school in 2014 they had to go on hiatus due to their studies. However, in 2017 they reformed with a new line up (the only founding members still in the band is the guitarist Jakub Wrobel).

Their album “Path To The Unknown” is their first full length album with seven pure Thrash Metal songs. I was really impressed by the four musicians (Jakub Wrobel – guitars, Bogdan Sroka – vocals, Maciej Sachaiko – bass and Patryk Grabowski – drums) and their song structure. Each song has instrumental parts that stand out for their diversity and the excellent performance of the musicians (mostly guitar and bass). My favorite parts are the intro of the first song of the album “Stupidity Regine” and the melodic part of the song “Path To The Unknown” with the acoustic guitar being a nice twist. Some of Wroble’s solos are truly amazing and Sachaiko and Grabowski have their fine moments too. What threw me off was the vocals of Sroka. His voice is powerful but somewhat monotonous and unvaried. Also in some moments I found it a louder than it should be. It felt like listening two different songs at once. One with only the orchestral parts and a different one when vocals appeared.

Despite that, “Path To The Unknown” is an album I listened many times with pleasure and I will definitely get back to it in the future. I am sure that when the Polish find a better balance between music and vocals (Sroka is talented, no doubt) they will get a level up!

Rating: 7 / 10
Editor: Kostas Boudoukos
Related link: EXUL – Bandcamp page