San Jose’s EXHUMED have blazed a path for modern-sensible old-school death metal since the band’s 1991 formation, when the band’s founder and sole remaining member Matt Harvey was a tender 15 years old. EXHUMED spent much of the ensuing decade hacking their way through numerous line-ups, demos, split CDs, and EPs. In 1998, the band finally released their debut album, the genre-(re)defining and critic-repulsing Gore Metal. The album crystallized the sound forged with their l994 demo (old-school death metal meets full-on grindcore with the spirit of thrash) and first split CD (Horrific Expulsion of Gore and 1996’s In the Name of Gore respectively); the band envisioned the three releases as a trilogy of sorts.