To scour through the very bottom layers of the underground to find the next act worth talking about is like finding which soul locked in hell wants to escape the most. Every single one of them believes themselves to be better in some form or another, but it takes a truly exceptional act that stand out amongst the ocean of other acts that occupy the lightless depths of the underground in its deepest levels. When it comes to Exsul that description couldn’t be more accurate.

On the surface, it seems to be that everything about what Exsul has put forth here isn’t much different than the hordes of other black metal bands that are coming around every other day, but it’s once you forage into the icy wastes that Exsul calls its own that you begin to see very quickly that the band has a lot more to offer than just straight forward black metal. It’s all done in just four tracks, but it’s in every single one of those that this band does something different with an undeniably voracious core of black metal that’s not simply a headless creation whose only purpose is to assault all life and let darkness dominate the realms. Rather, the EP takes its time very diligently in virtually every minute of all that it brings forth with heavily emphasized focus on when the ungodly power does come in with its speed, tenacity, and undeniable desire to see blood-tainted ice being all that you can experience with it all coming together almost too well when you remind yourself that this is only the band’s debut EP. That elevates everything that Exsul does substantially to immediately make this effort something that I feel any proper connoisseur of black metal needs to hear, but even then metal fans can find themselves lost in what has been done here as the utter heaviness, crushing riffs, and absolutely tantalizing seduction that’s constantly put forth are precisely what many of us are constantly looking for every single fucking day, and it’s no less than bewildering to see this done on a band’s very first effort.

To see how well-executed this eponymous work is in its absolute entirety being a great creation without needing anything else to support it, and there is no way to ignore the fascinating potential that is pouring forth from every minute that’s doled out here to make every single one of us salivate over the idea of a follow-up from Exsul. As of this moment, Exsul surprisingly has everything going for them in order to make their time in the black metal world one that cannot be ignored, and I can hope to be lucky enough to be there for those ventures further into this cold darkness.

LISTEN to “Exsul” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Exsul on Facebook here.