Now, I’m not going to lie. When I was a young kid who didn’t know shit about shit, I thought the best metal came from overseas. The US, Europe and Canada were the places that “real” metal came from.
Man, what a fucking stupid kid I was.
In my defence, it was the ’80s, and there was some fucking incredible music coming from those places. I didn’t actually believe great Australian metal was even a thing back then. It shows you what sort of a metal snob I was.
Fast forward to now, and I’m embarrassed that I ever thought that, especially when I hear albums like Exsequiis by Melbourne thrashers Harlott. This is an aggressive, dark and fast thrash fireball that makes you want to throw your hands into the air and bellow, “Fuck yeah!”
Rooted in the real world issues we’re all surrounded by and sucked into nowadays, Exsequiis explores misinformation and disinformation, social and political division, and the shittier aspects of human behaviour. These are typically 2020s social issues, but while Harlott confront them lyrically, they also throw down the gauntlet musically by pushing the boundaries of their harshest harmonies and salaciously savage solos.
The boys are fucking back, and they are firing on all cylinders.
It may have been six years since their previous album, 2020’s Detritus of the Final Age, but Harlott have returned at full force. Andrew Hudson brings the brilliance on vocals and guitar, Tom Richards delivers beastly bassline ballsiness, Glen Trayhern pounds the living fuck out of the drums, and the laser focused Leigh Bartley shreds like a government department trying to get rid of evidence.
Together, they have made an album that will not soon be forgotten.
When the world gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But when the world gives you instruments and a platform on which to play them as viciously as possible, you make metal. That is exactly what Harlott have done on Exsequiis.
Is the world on its last legs? We’re yet to find out, but the Latin word exsequiis refers to a funeral procession, so perhaps that is where Harlott see the world heading.
With all the shit going on right now, it only takes the wrong person pressing the right button before we’re all worm food. We have a front row seat to our own annihilation with no way of stopping the countdown, so why not listen to some killer tunes while we await the end of everything we know?
Harlott provide that entertainment with one of the most powerful albums to come out of Australia this year. The music is fast, aggressive and everything thrash metal should be.
From melodically mesmerising guitar work and insanely ferocious solos to bellicose blast beats, powerful raging riffs and the total and utter envelopment of the chaos surrounding us every day, Exsequiis has been recorded for maximum impact on you, the listener.
It is to be savoured. It is to be digested and then savoured some more because this album does not quit until the very last note. Then, as it did in my case, it makes you want to put it straight back on repeat to be digested and savoured again and again and again…
Going back to my opening comments, I was so wrong about Aussie metal when I was a kid, but I didn’t know any better.
When I finally get my time machine, I will travel back to ye olde times of the mid to late ’80s and tell myself that some of the best metal comes from right here in Australia. You don’t have to look too hard to find it either.
Aussie metal is at peak perfection right now. I shudder to think how much better it will become in the not too distant future.
Harlott
Andrew Hudson – Guitars and vocals
Tom Richards – Bass and vocals
Leigh Bartley – Guitars
Glen Trayhern – Drums
Album Details
Artist: Harlott
Album: Exsequiis
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release date: September 11, 2026
Country: Australia
Genre: Thrash metal
Exsequiis is out now through Metal Blade Records. metalblade.com/harlott
