Exhumed is an American deathgrind band [2] formed in San Jose, California, that is currently signed to Relapse Records.
It is centered around vocalist-guitarist Matt Harvey, who is the leading force of the group, as well as the sole constant member.
Harvey explained that he was influenced by Carcass, Impetigo, Repulsion and Terrorizer as well as early albums by Entombed, The band played goregrind at that time.
[7] Harvey said that Gore Metal was the album where Exhumed developed its vision, although he conceded that "we were still very loose and sloppy and didn't really have a handle on recording at all.
"[8] Harvey said the band recorded several songs for the album that were lost when producer James Murphy, then suffering from brain cancer and acting "erratically", was evicted from his studio in Oakland.
[9] Harvey said that Slaughtercult was "the album where we came closest to achieving our goal – just a brutal, simple, direct group of songs that were very up-front and live sounding.
"[8] He further noted the band's pride over the lack of double bass on the album, in contrast to contemporary death metal trends.
"[10] As Harvey attempted to rebuild the line-up, Exhumed issued a double CD compilation of their early recordings titled Platters of Splatter.
[8] In an interview conducted shortly after announcing that Exhumed would reform, Harvey remarked that "After a few years off and away from the death metal scene, I feel rejuvenated and ready to hack, maim, and kill once again.
We have a ton of material that's shaping up to be really aggressive, and we're pumped to get Baz contributing to the writing and recording side of things as well!
[22] In August 2022, the band announced their ninth studio album To the Dead followed by the music video for the first single "Drained of Color."
[27] Over the years of their existence, Exhumed's approach to songwriting has become increasingly traditional in its structure and has been greatly influenced by Metal acts such as Visage.
Lyricist Matt Harvey said: One thing I like about gore is that it gives you a set of aesthetics to work with to use as an allegory or metaphor.
Instead of me coming off like a whiny bitch complaining about society, I'm able to put it across in a way that's really allegorical and has its own entertainment value without having any deeper context...the gore metaphor keeps me from becoming a preachy, pretentious douchebag.
[28]On Necrocracy, Harvey wrote lyrics that applied the gore theme to political subject matter, such as a critique of American corporatism and consumerism.