Review: Excel ‘Seeking Refuge’ [Reissue]

Formed in 1985, Venice, LA outfit Excel emerged from the ashes of Chaotic Noise and were part of the Suicidal family alongside Suicidal Tendencies, No Mercy, Beowülf and Los Cycos. The band comprised of Dan Clements on vocals, Adam Siegel on guitar, Shawn Ross on bass and rounded out with Greg Saenz on drums.

Their debut full-length Split Image was released in 1987, followed by 1989’s The Joke’s On You, the latter notable for Tapping Into The Emotional Void which gained considerable attention when Metallica were accused of plagiarising the opening riff for Enter Sandman, which led to the band considering taking legal action against Lars Ulrich and co.

Following a hiatus of some six years during which grunge and alternative rock were dominating MTV and radio, Excel finally put out their third album Seeking Refuge with a slightly amended line-up of Brandon Rudley on guitar and Max on drums. Admittedly, it’s an album I’d never taken much notice of, but as is the case with Southern Lord, their involvement guarantees my interest. Reportedly, the band are working on a new album due out next year but for now, let’s focus on this no longer out of print effort.

Unenslaved contains hints of stoner rock ala Kyuss, heavy doses of underrated alt-rockers Sugartooth and finally an accompanying video starring skateboarding legend Tony Alva. A superb opener. The shortest track on the album at just over two and a half minutes, Hair Like Christ, despite its silly name, is a punchy slice of Helmet and Quicksand inspired post-hardcore with traces of groove metal. It’s a track very much of its time, yet one which is a hell of a lot of fun. Plastic Cracks appears to share something of a musical DNA with groups such as Living Colour what with the liberal doses of Jimi Hendrix guitar flourishes and Kira Roessler (Black Flag, Dos) influenced jazzy funk bass runs on offer. An incredibly accomplished piece. 

a solid collection of songs and a well-worthy investment of your time…

Take Your Part Gotta Encourage is somewhat thrashier and features the legendary H.R. of the Bad Brains on guest vocals. It’s interesting that Bad Brains released the God Of Love album the same year as Seeking Refuge as there’s inevitably a little bleed over sonically speaking, though it still works as its own entity. Drowned Out is grungy with nods to classic Soundgarden, what with the doomier psychedelic intonations and United Naturally In True Youth features one hell of a Sabbathy riff of which Tony Iommi would be proud. Again, the band had clearly been listening to the emerging stoner/doom of the day and the southern fried vibes remind one of Corrosion of Conformity, a truly infectious number.

Riptide has a downbeat Alice In Chains feel tonally and vocally, and that band’s self-titled album shares an unfortunate coincidence with Excel, spelling the beginning of the end for the band for quite some time. Overview is one of the album’s more understated tracks yet one which you’ll find yourself nodding along to, a far cry from the band who penned Insecurity and Drive while Downpressor concludes the album brilliantly on a bluesy note with the addition of a little noise-rock into the mix.

The album’s dreadful blurry cover photo and logo change perhaps threw people the first time around, but these wrongs have since been corrected so the music can be focused on now. While not quite as sonically thrilling as the first two albums, it made sense for the band to try and move with the times stylistically and as it happens, this is still a solid collection of songs and a well-worthy investment of your time.

Label: Southern Lord
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Reza Mills