Back in 2012, five years after forming, Belgian metal crew X-POZED finally released their debut album. ‘Essence of Hope’ shared some strong material. For those who’d missed their earlier self-released EP, it was the kind of record that provided a strong musical introduction, with a couple of tracks that could certainly be cherry picked to show their range.
The heavy ‘Collide With What You Say’ centred around some truly intense drumming. Powered by double bass pedals and a fierce bottom end, the number captured a solid metalcore sound, with the band attacking at full power. In contrast, although no less heavy, ‘A World In Chains’ shared a huge doom riff at the outset, showing how X-POSED could approach a slow and weighty approach with just as much of a natural flair.
X-POSED retained a presence on the live circuit in Europe, sharing stages with the mighty Walls of Jericho, Madball and others, but further studio material seemed slow to arrive. Their current single ‘Back Down’ (released in December 2024) not only marks a welcome return for the band, but a partial re-invention. They still deal in sounds that can be incredibly heavy, but this single shows off musicians who are even tighter than before.
The track’s intro quickly latches onto a hard edged metalcore sound, but the riffs have a slightly dirtier feel, as if a little groove metal has been absorbed, and in terms of heaviness, everything is absolutely immense. Things slow a little and take on more of a classic hardcore mantle to accommodate an incredibly intense vocal, but there’s also an unexpected injection of melody when the chorus is fleshed out with clean backing vocals. Not that this weakens X-POSED musical assault, and moving through an intense second verse and a timeless sounding hardcore breakdown for the middle eight, their commitment to a riff sounds unshakable.
With its massive sound and sledgehammer riffing, and lyrics relating to standing up for your beliefs and not buckling to other people who challenge them, ‘Back Down’ is the perfect hardcore assault to take X-POSED into 2025.
Check out the new video clip below.