Exhumed, Skeletal Remains, Morbikon

Gore Metal, debut full-length from Bay Area grindcore fiends Exhumed, rolling into Decibel Magazine’s Hall of Fame last month – 26 years on: “Without that record,” concludes managing butcher Matt Harvey, “I wouldn’t have been able to go on this circuitous and sometimes deeply depressing path that led me to a place where I’m pretty much satisfied with where I’m at.” He speaks for legions. The murderous quartet thus stages its Decayed Decades trek with fellow gore hounds Skeletal Remains from L.A., whose fifth LP, Fragments of the Ageless topped year-end lists in March. Blackened Richmond, Virginia, thrashers Morbikon make it a trinity. – Raoul Hernandez