Review by Adam M on April 15, 2012.

Withered plays an aggressive form of metal that mixes up a variety of styles into an interesting concoction. It has remnants of Hardcore, but also touches of the Atmospheric Metal that bands like Neurosis and Isis have held in thrall for years. While this band doesn’t reach the great heights of those bands, there are plenty of enjoyable moments to be found on this disc.

The suffocating nature of the riffs makes for a listen that is quite intense throughout. There is a sense of being increasingly consumed by the riffs of the band as the album progresses into its later stages and this gives an impressive overall atmosphere to the album. Withered have roots in the Hardcore and Punk genres as well, however and this shows throughout the length of the release. There are similarities to bands like Converge to be found here, but also nods to Mastodon as well. The entire album maintains a fairly high quality, but there are certainly some segments that are more compelling than others, such as the excellent closing track 'Among Sorrow'.

In terms of instrumentation and production values, the band is very good and well above average, but still a few notches below outstanding. The sound on the disc is somewhat hollow, though still quite potent. Fans of Atmospheric Metal that has a mixture of many different styles and types of music will certainly be interested in looking into "Memento Mori". It’s a bit rough around the edges, but there is also a lot of quality on offer here.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Allan on December 19, 2002.

Exmortem may not be as original or unique as some of the other bands that lead the modern death metal movement, but I’ll be damned if Exmortem doesn’t do what they do well. “Pestilence Empire” is their third full-length album, and their first with label Osmose Productions. If you like your death metal uncompromisingly brutal, chaotic, and technical, “Pestilence Empire” just might be the right album.

Exmortem’s arrangements are heavy and brutal for the entire duration of “Pestilence Empire”. There isn’t a moment where they let up. Riff after riff, the semi-complexity and brutality quickly surrounds the listener and just pound on your ears with each song. The music is pretty strong, and fairly well composed. The songs themselves usually have enough energy and shifts in tempo to keep the listeners attention fixated on the music. Exmortem also manage to throw in a few unique ideas despite the fact that they’re playing a largely generic style.

Believe it or not, melody is what keeps Exmortem’s ship afloat. After listening to “Pestilence Empire” enough times to the point that you can hear all the ideas clearly and concentrate on them, you’ll notice that it’s that slight melodic element that keeps Exmortem interesting. “Pestilence Empire” isn’t limited to playing at breakneck tempo the whole time, nor have they hindered themselves by being a band that can’t seem to hold onto an idea for more than a few seconds.

The only real large problem with Exmortem is their lack of variety. All the songs on “Pestilence Empire” tend to sound very similar. This is caused by the lack of breathing room that Exmortem leave you, and that the music itself, while most of it is usually fairly well done, doesn’t tend to have a quality that makes it stick in your head. In fact, I managed to catch some of the riffs being re-used in slightly different variations. Some smaller problems would be that the drumming tends to be very one dimensional, and the production makes the ideas on “Pestilence Empire” come out somewhat unclearly.

Bottom Line: “Pestilence Empire” may not be original and unique, but Exmortem do what they do well enough that to most people it won’t matter.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 6
Originality: 6
Overall: 6.5

Rating: 6.5 out of 10