Pyrrhon – Exhaust (Review)

This is the fifth album from Pyrrhon, an extreme metal band from the US.

Whatever you want to call it – progressive, dissonant, experimental, avant-garde, etc. – Pyrrhon are not your average band. Their music is atypical and envelope-pushing, while retaining enough death metal sinew amidst the jazz and hardcore influences to propel their extreme metal output forward with creative intensity.

With a strong track record to live up to, (2014’s Mother of Virtues, 2017’s What Passes for Survival, and 2020’s Abscess Time in particular), how does the 38-minute Exhaust – Pyrrhon’s shortest album – stack up?

Very, very well indeed. In my humble opinion, it’s Pyrrhon’s best work yet.

Exhaust twists and turns with multifaceted energy and a dark dissonant pulse. Although Pyrrhon are never going to be what most people consider an accessible band, Exhaust still has more hooks than you might expect. The songwriting is a balance between chaos and disorder on the one hand, and structured intensity on the other. The ratio between the two changes as the parts of the songs do, but ultimately they feed off each other with cannibalistic glee. This approach allows the music to be bold and adventurous, while still retaining an engaging extreme metal core that grips the listener hard. I really like the juxtaposition of the different ingredients across the record. It’s rhythmic and tight, while also giving the impression of being loose and unrestrained, (it’s only an impression  though, due to how mercilessly precise the imposing musicianship is).

Exhaust delivers a masterclass in crawling malevolence, insanity-inducing technicality, blistering ferocity, considered worldbuilding, frenzied vigour, and a whole load more things that make up its relatively tight running time. It’s a record that is focused in its application of its unconventional art, making for an album that flows very well from one track to the next.

The talent on display here is dizzying. Even more so as it’s channelled into songs that are actually damn good. The music makes an impact across several fronts, rather than just being technically impressive, (for example). All aspects of Exhaust are fine tuned and well-developed, with Pyrrhon wielding their own personality-rich style like the formidable weapon that it has become.

Exhaust is complex and deadly, and ranks as Pyrrhon’s finest moment so far to my mind. The chaos has been tempered with an emotional intelligence and that hasn’t diluted the music’s passionate heart; in actual fact, it’s enhanced it. Basically, this album is great, fulfilling everything that Pyrrhon have promised so far with their already esteemed discography. Exhaust gives me everything I want from a Pyrrhon album and more. Do not miss out on this essential dose of extreme metal adrenaline.