Slave to the Sword

Exmortus have added a lot of technicality for their third full-length, and the increased musicality and texture are welcome, but they have not managed to keep the intensity up as high as I would like. Here and there they kick up a notch and really go for it, like on "Immortality Made Flesh", but mostly they are just too slow and restrained. I like the added lead sounds, but the underlying riffs are too simplistic, and don't give the music enough punch. On the whole I find this just too clean and sharp to really grab me. It's got chops, but not enough guts.