Review by Greg on April 8, 2025.

Perpetual Catastrophe is the brand-new 4-tracker, plus intro, EP from Polish thrashers Exul. I had gladly spent words of appreciation for their debut album Path To The Unknown, released three years ago, so I was naturally expecting any ulterior signs of life from the dudes – and, I must say, this delivers.

Despite my fondness for the LP, I still observed room for even further improvements. The first one that comes to my mind would be Bogdan Sroka's coarse vocals, mostly for the reason that they sometimes clashed a bit with the refined assault of the music. Where to go now? Well, softening the vocals wasn't really a viable option (was it?), and Sroka seems to have gone the opposite way nonetheless, getting closer and closer to a full-fledged growl at times. What about the music? Another thing that always stood out to me with Exul is that their music often sounded great, at times awesome, but also gave the impression that it could use a few extra bpm here and there. New drummer Brian Stephens comes straight from the States to provide a partial solution to that minor issue. We're still far from the most blisteringly fast acts of the scene, for sure – and it's perhaps something they could take a cue on from compatriots and almost homonymous Exist, who keep inevitably springing to my mind whenever I hear these guys, despite their different approaches – but the occasional blast beat accent surely goes well with Sroka's deeper bellows, albeit certainly not catapulting the band into proper death/thrash territories.

The rest is, well, mostly unchanged. The last two songs are re-recordings, both having already appeared on the 2017 demo and 'Deathbringer' even having been conceived in 2012 for the band's very first release, it seems. The good thing is that, well, you wouldn't notice, since they blend so well with the newer cuts. Both make full use of the upgrades that have happened since (a stronger vocal department, if compared to the original screamer's erratic performance, and human drums in lieu of a drum machine), and 'Deathbringer', in particular, marks a new high in terms of intensity and compactness, toe-to-toe with advance single 'Infallible Fools' – ultimately, they were well worth being given a fresher spin. The bad thing is that, well, we're left with basically 11 minutes of new material (and you would forgive me for not taking the intro into account, would you?). Sure, Path To The Unknown also had a protracted gestation period, so it's safe to say that Exul has no interest in rushing things. Based on the results, I'd be inclined to agree with them. 'Land Of Stagnation' even reaffirms the band's standout ability to make every slower song they attempt enjoyable, which isn't a given for sure. It's lyrically notable as well, offering a disillusioned stance on everyday living also involving the release title, more or less a vague Eastern European counterpart to what Warbringer recently exhibited on their 'A Better World' (naturally sans John Kevill's inimitable storytelling prowess).

Ending on a somewhat sour note, the guitar solos are sadly not as outrageous and over-the-top as before, although their penchant for melody is kept intact. Granted, it shouldn't be a huge source of worries since it's just an EP, but the competitors' level was admittedly sky-high ('The Hunt', 'Path To The Unknown', to name the most obvious ones), and it'll simply be a shame if a future sophomore decides to go further down that road. Guitarist and main man Jakub Wróbel was recently recruited from Polish crossover giants Terrordome (feels good to see someone you follow hitting it big, doesn't it?), so let's just hope it isn't some weird reverse influence phenomenon at play...

That's it – Perpetual Catastrophe is Exul doing Exul as usual, as strange as saying this about a band this young might sound. They deliver another engaging good thrashing, they don't innovate, but they don't do much wrong either. I'm confident they can still up the ante even more with a possible second LP, hopefully... especially since they seem to be running out of old songs to dust off.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10