Review by Adam M on February 11, 2016.

Exmortus play a form of old school thrash that is both addictive and enveloping. The guitar riffs are similar to what bands like Havok bring forth. There is both the aggressive Teutonic Kreator type aesthetic to the riff, but also the Bay Area Metallica sound as well. This leads Exmortus to being a fairly diverse type of thrash band. The music here is relatively straightforward, however and won’t surprise anyone with a steady diet of thrash from the past.

The old school vibe is certainly cool and the added heroic flair makes the album stand out of the pack somewhat. The simplistic aspect of the music is appealing for thrash, but fans of other genres might felt left out. There is nothing here that hasn’t been done already and the band sticks to its tried and true approach throughout. Still, the band is very effective at their craft and able to create memorable songs that are very catchy. One will become overjoyed with the thrash aspect of the band is this is a style that is liked by the listener. It is difficult to locate a best song on the album as they are all of a very similar quality. Regardless, the old school thrash fanatic will find a lot to like here, even if there isn’t much new that is presented. The guitar riffs that are all straight from the old school are also certainly some of the more likable I’ve heard from this genre in some time.

In terms of the rest of the instrumentation, the drums are solid, yet unspectacular and the singing is very standard and slightly harsh for the style. The overall product is a solid thrash work that satisfies on familiar levels and never wants to attain anything above that. Thus Ride Forth comes recommended to the thrash fan only.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10