Review by Adam M on October 7, 2019.

Exhorder get the Southern flavor down pat with their new album Mourn the Southern Skies. The songs have a brash thrash nature, but also a tinge of the South that makes them even more interesting. These are head-banging songs to get in your head in a similar manner to how Down did with the album NOLA. While there is more of a thrash vibe to these tracks, there is a similar Southern nature to that album or even Corrosion of Conformity that makes it more appealing and authentic.

The songs have some groove to them but maintain the thrash impact to create an assault on the senses. Though there were moments of acoustic bliss on the album, for the most part it kept the pedal to the metal and things moving at a nice pace. Like the classic Down album or any album from Corrosion of Conformity there are certainly some catchy moments as well that will have you thrashing around like a madman. The vocalist is a little different than Phil Anselmo and more typical sounding. Kyle Thomas shows a need to be more traditional sounding as he is with the traditional doom outfit Trouble. The songs themselves are fairly straightforward and fit into a mold that makes them stand out and have an impact. Just see the opener My Time for an example of the razor-sharp Southern thrash nature that the album has. There is certainly the crunch there, but there is also a sludgy aspect to the sound of the tracks that makes them more interesting.

This was a great album for the genre, but bands like Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity and Down have done similar music at least as effectively in the past. This thus has a pedigree to live up to and ends up just sitting in a very good position rather than a great one. Fans of Southern styled music or thrash music will still want to check this album out.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10