Let’s get this out of the way first: Exodus Unknown is Imperium’s debut full-length record. Since forming in 2022, the Birmingham thrashers have also won Metal 2 The Masses.
I’ll bet they bloody did.
I judged M2TM back in 2015. I saw a couple of decent bands, some absolute rubbish, and one act that actually went on to achieve something. And Conjurer, the only one that went on to do anything, didn’t win its heat because it lost the audience vote.
Had I been part of the panel watching Imperium and they hadn’t won, I honestly think I’d have given up.
“Hell And High Water” contains just about everything that is perfect about thrash metal. It isn’t merely the sound, although that is magnificent. It is the way the song gradually positions itself for the kill, feeding on despair and anger before Ben Porter delivers the hook: “Here I am, a broken man.”
The guitars slash their way through “Exodus Unknown”, and the sheer class of the playing is impossible to miss. Hardip Sagoo and Scott Lomas sound as though they have spent years working together rather than months, while the middle section finds Porter practically spitting the lyrics out.
One of the most impressive things about this album is the length of the songs. Imperium are not interested in racing through three-minute bursts merely because thrash metal is supposed to be fast. These tracks are allowed to develop, and everything sounds remarkably fully formed for a debut.
“Reap What You Sow” is a perfect example. There is melody here, an enormous amount of power and, perhaps most surprisingly, some proper singing. Imperium understand that aggression is far more effective when it is surrounded by light and shade.
They have obviously listened to a bit of Metallica along the way, too. Why wouldn’t they? Why not learn from one of the best?
That influence is particularly noticeable on “Unstoppable”, but Imperium never sound like a tribute act. Instead, they take the foundations of classic thrash and build something that already feels like their own.
Then there is “The Gun”.
At eight and a half minutes, it sits in the middle of the record like a statement of intent. It is the centrepiece of Exodus Unknown, giving every member of the band room to stretch out. Sagoo’s lead guitar work is superb, Scott Lomas provides the muscle, Jean-Raphael Come’s bass keeps everything moving and James Hawes attacks the drums as though he has been waiting his entire life to play these songs.
There is something almost joyful about it. Not in the lyrics, necessarily, but in the sound of five musicians realising exactly how good they can be together.
“Hangman” might be the most moshpit-ready track of the lot. Grab your hi-tops, find some room and bang your head. Come’s bass anchors the whole thing while Hawes sounds as though he is enjoying himself immensely behind the kit.
“Tread The Serpent” has the feeling of a battle unfolding. War, of course, has always been integral to the sound, imagery and atmosphere of thrash metal, but Imperium make it feel immediate rather than nostalgic. There is real tension here, as though the band are marching into something from which nobody is coming back untouched.
Then, after all that fury, Exodus Unknown ends with “The End”, a ballad that allows the credits to roll and everyone to take stock. Porter questions everything as the music gradually recedes, leaving the listener to do much the same.
And when you do, one thought keeps returning: thrash metal simply endures.
It has survived changing fashions, shifting scenes and countless predictions of its demise. Somehow, it is always there, waiting for another young band to discover what can be achieved with speed, anger, precision and a collection of enormous riffs.
Imperium have understood all of that.
Exodus Unknown might be the most exciting British thrash debut since Evile unleashed theirs getting on for 20 years ago.
Rating 9/10
