MUSIC REVIEW: Andy Gillion - “Exilium”
Have you heard of Andy Gillion yet? In Europe, this UK-born and Australia-based guitarist is perhaps best known in the metal scene for having once been in Mors Principium Est, but my familiarity with him came sometime after he parted ways with MPE and went on to start a solo career. When Jani Lehtinen from Tuonela Magazine wrote a review of “Arcade Metal,” back when I was the editor over there, I was so intrigued that I just had to give it a listen. I loved it so much that it led to me checking out his first solo album, “Neverafter,” as well. October 11th, 2024, marks the release of his third solo project, called “Exilium.” Already gaining traction for a kickass single featuring Britney Slayes of Unleash the Archers, I managed to nab a review copy from him to check out!
In case you’re new here, I often like to use this first paragraph to give a general personal history on the artist, so if you’d like to compare your favorites to mine to see how comparable our tastes are, this next paragraph is for you! After all, music is subjective! So, with that in mind, feel free to skip down to the next paragraph if you’re not interested in my personal history with Andy Gillion.
While I had heard about Mors Principium Est during their heyday, I admit that their style of death metal has never been a genre that I particularly like, so my familiarity with Andy came, as mentioned, after reading a review of “Arcade Metal.” If you don’t know that album, it’s a phenomenal instrumental release that focuses, naturally, on spectacular guitar work with a strong influence from retro video game music. Then, the preceding “Neverafter” release was more of a fantasy-themed instrumental album, thus meaning that Andy is inspired by many of the things that inspire me as well, so his solo music had a natural pull for me. When he guested on Gathering of Geeks, he mentioned that he was working on a sequel to “Neverafter,” so I had assumed that “Exilium” was that sequel… until I listened to it.
Now, being a big fan of Andy for his fantasy and video game -themed instrumental work, as well as being under the impression that “Exilium” was the sequel to “Neverafter,” you can imagine my surprise when I played “As the Kingdom Burns” and noticed that this was not an instrumental track, but a hard and heavy metal song. I will admit that, while some journalists do a lot of background research before listening to an album, I often like to listen fresh, with as unbiased an ear as possible, not knowing anything about the release that I’m putting on. As you can imagine, I was a little bit blown away. I had no idea the man could sing, or growl for that matter! Afterwards, I put on “Prophecy,” to find that it had a similar overall vibe: technically fantastic guitar work paired with solid growls. It seemed that, to my surprise, this was not going to be the instrumental fantasy sequel that I had expected; this is an entirely new concept!
Naturally then, “Exilium” steers in a much closer direction to the material from Mors Principium Est than it does to Andy’s other solo material. For fans of his old band, this is probably fantastic news. Fortunately, Andy is freakishly talented, so of course I’m not going to be bummed out that he did a more traditional metal album, but I will confess that I was hoping for another beautiful fantasy-themed instrumental album. Ah well, such is life… I must wait a bit longer for the “Neverafter” sequel, but I hope this means that the death metal fans out there are going to get really hyped up for this one!
What “Exilium” does undeniably boast, is a lot of crushing guitar work and really solid growling melodies. Sound-wise, it’s pretty consistent from start-to-finish, which is perhaps why this genre doesn’t do much for me, as it lacks variation. While I’m not sure a ballad would have suited the album or its theme, “Exilium” is pretty punishing from beginning to end. However, that’s not to say that there isn’t any diversity, as “A New Path” takes a turn for the dramatic, while maintaining the harsh and heavy sound. There’s also something reminiscent of classic Finnish melodic death metal bands in “The Haunting,” and I really enjoyed the little details in the backing music, which help keep the songs from bleeding into one another. Also, shout-out for that slick solo! If I were to make one suggestion—which is the same suggestion I’d make to most death metal bands, which would probably get me lynched by their fans—is a bit more variation in the vocals, as all-growls-all-the-time can become a bit hard on the ears after a while. But again, take me with a grain of salt, because this is not my genre.
I do want to shout out a couple of really cool tracks that hit me hard despite this not being my favorite type of music. There’s a bit of magnificent guitar wankery opening “Avenging the Fallen,” before it bursts into that half-thrashy sound again. I particularly like the way the guitar line seems to be working hard in this track, moving all over the place. This was an early album highlight due to its small nuances helping it stand out. The song also takes a melodic turn, which is reminiscent of some of Andy’s instrumental work, so yeah, this was definitely one of my immediate favorite tracks.
The other easy highlight of the album for me was “Acceptance.” The melodies are brilliant and this track adds those suggested blended vocals into the mix, which gives some very welcome breathing room and texture, leaving you wanting more when the album ends. It really works well as a conclusion to whatever story Andy is telling and wound out being the song that I returned to over and over. It also made me the most curious to check out the lyrics and see if I could get a feel for what this album is all about.
Obviously, this release was far heavier than I had expected it to be, so perhaps I need to reconsider my no-prior-info policy for future releases. In fact, I’m a bit sorry that I didn't follow along more closely when he announced the album. Now, despite me being a bit friends-off with metal right now, as well as this not being my favorite genre, when it comes to the melodies, execution, and mixing, I really have nothing to complain about with this album. “Exilium” is a well-crafted, well-executed release that will be sure to please fans of speedier, thrashier, heavier music. If you’re a fan of that classic slightly-thrashy death metal style, I highly recommend you check out “Exilium”—it might end up being a surprise favorite album of the year for you!
Tracklist
Prophecy
As the Kingdom Burns ft. Britney Slayes & Dave Haley
A New Path
The Haunting
Avenging the Fallen
Call to Arms
Exilium
Acceptance
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