A long five years after impressing with their second album Šahrartu, Belarusian death metallers Eximperitus (or to use their full name, Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum) have returned with a new opus of their unique and devastating battering ram of sound, with little to suggest that their impact or heaviness has been toned down in the intervening years. Opener One Step Long Infinity simply writhes with post-Nile brutality, the previous other touchstone of Immolation also a clear touchstone with those deep growls atop epic riffing, and although soon over after its brief two minute plus running time, introduces the following, more expansive and prog-tinged Contemplation of the Plastic Fibers of Perfection at the Second Level of Reality, which slows the pace ever so slightly but allows the more grandiose qualities of the music to reach the fore with some backing melodic trills making an impact despite being a little buried in the mix.

That will be the main bone of contention for some here - despite being perfectly clear for brutal death metal so far as it goes, the production here is muddy and can mean giving this a couple of listens before you get used to it. The good news is that once you are, there's a level of depth that is almost psychedelic at points, such as the soloing on Contemplation of the Plastic Fibers... not to mention some of the more mystical instrumental choices such as the delicate Eastern plucking of interlude Twelve Centuries of Triumph of the Third Kingdom: the Idea of the Inner Creation of the Aristocratic Character of the Leader and the Process of Tempering Him in the Crucible of Trials in the Face of the Exaltation of Life as an Ode to the Heroic Ideals of Future Civilizations, which is shorter than the time it takes to read its name properly!

That, of course, is the other problem some will have with the band, that they seem almost determined to push their parodic-seeming song titles although there's little other evidence that they are unserious about their art. The intense and crushing Finding Consistency in the Fourth Quadrant of Eternity, for instance, combines the non-western scales and very western brutality to perfection, featuring some invocatory clean singing and plenty of doom-laden ominous riffage that helps make the whole song feel more like an ancient ritual than a mere death metal banger. Get you a band that can do both, as the kids say, and throughout this relatively short album Eximperitus more than prove their skills. There's much to discover and enthrall the listener; one of the most immediately impressive pieces being The Untimely Fruit of the Unsaid, a driving, energetic groover that uses the Nile template as a jumping-off point for some tinkering in directions both groovy and melodic, working both as meat for headbanging and soundtrack to mental astral voyages.

Generally the headbangers will be ahead however, as the ensuing almost Hate Eternal-esque rhythmic heaviness of Golden Chains for the Construction of Individual Greatness shows, opening up for more epic meandering towards the end and through lengthily-titled instrumental Molecular Disintegration of an Unattainable Solitary Will in a Vessel of Wisdom... and into the final grunt n'blast heaviness of Chalkionic Wandering Among the Wreckage of the Future and its relentless whirring riffing. The band show again and again consistently that they can back up the wordiness of their song titles, and although as before this will be of more interest to those looking beyond Nile for their grandiose death metal fixes, Eximperitus prove they have what it takes to not just repeat themselves from previous albums but push their individual style onwards and upwards - time will tell whether this or Šahrartu is the superior album but without doubt Meritoriousness of Equanimity is another winner for their discography.