Xenith
To No Avail
Self-Released
Unless you are already well-established, making music in 2026 must be such a slog at times. Sure, you love what you do, but with the glut of other artists and AI out there, it must feel like wading through treacle to make progress. Which is why upcoming Mancunians, Xenith, should be lauded for not only sticking at it, but for producing a tremendous debut in ‘To No Avail’. Suffice to say that your opening track should inform the listener of what you are about, and opener “Take Me Back To Where I Belong” achieves that with bells on. Wonderfully melodic through the chorus, but with some terrific thrash riffs to augment proceedings it masterfully encapsulates Xenith’s thrash-tastic melo-death sound. For something a little more headbang worthy, the chuggy “Killer Instinct” will set those neck muscles moving, whilst “The Weight To Pretend” leans into the band’s sense of melodicism with some beautiful arpeggiated riffs. Variety, and all that, but it all adds to the album’s broad excitement. While ‘To No Avail’ strikes a near-perfect balance between thrash and melody, two things stand out for Xenith’s debut: their musicianship, and the production. On the former, the craft is exemplary, especially for a band only three years into their existence. Riffs are deployed with panache, the rhythm section grooves and blasts appropriately, whilst the lead work is tasteful and shreddy where necessary there is skill here that is tempered with a focus to the art of song writing. Which is where the latter brings this out: a bright, energetic production that retains the edge that should be there on a debut record. The ears lap it up all day long. It is heartening to see that, in a tough era to make a name for oneself in music, there are still up-and-coming bands that demonstrate their craft and prove there is still life in art yet. Xenith may only have formed in 2023, but a strong debut such as ‘To No Avail’ suggests their efforts will be the opposite to that phrase – expect their spark to burn brighter in the coming years.
https://www.facebook.com/XenithBand
Review by Lee Carter