Excessum – The Battle Has Begun Posted on 2012/02/23 by MetalReviewer/Critic Excessum is the first band that had submitted their E.P. (“The Battle Has Begun”) for review to Real Metal Reviews. They are a metal/thrash metal band from Mobile, Alabama. Upon listening to their first track, I knew that Excessum was very serious about their music. There are so many bands that are following the progression of metal and forgetting who and what the genre’s roots are. “The Battle Has Begun” is a breath of fresh air for metal since they have mastered a formula that successfully merges the sound of old school metal with modern day metal influences. As I had stated earlier, Excessum combines two different worlds of metal and brings it to life in “The Battle Has Begun”. While listening to their E.P. I could not help but make connections to bands such as Metallica, Exodus, Slayer, and King Diamond. At some points during my listening experience I had come to a realization that Excessum has an incredibly uncanny resemblance to Lamb of God. “The Battle Has Begun” is filled with blazing solos, heavy head banging breakdowns, and guitar riffs that flow brilliantly from one idea to the next. The guitar solo in the tune “War” was absolutely incredible. I enjoyed every bit of the technical masterpiece. The vocals were deep with a warm tone. I would like to see more fast paced songs for a future release. As much as I love the musicality of the slower tunes, I was itching to hear some more fast paced material. Songs that I would recommend listening to would be “War” and “Blessing in Disguise”. They both capture Excessum’s image as a band very well. “The Battle Has Begun” is exactly 26 minutes long. It is a high quality production that will be enjoyed by metal heads everywhere. “The Battle Has Begun” scored an 8.5/10. Older generations will appreciate this E.P. just as much as the younger generations. A few words of advice if you happen to be visiting Mobile, Alabama looking for a leprechaun in a tree with a pot of gold: The only gold you will find is in a venue where Excessum is performing their music. http://realmetalreviews.com/excessum-the-battle-has-begun/