This is the Belgian band Saille’s first album. As the title “Irreversible Decay” suggests, it is devoted to the darker end of life. I have read that it’s a “musical project to explore the Beauty of Destruction”. As a piece of orchestral Black Metal, it’s certainly got the bombast which would go with this statement.
A feature of the album is the classical guitar sections which complement the menace, violence and despair which characterise it as a whole. A classical guitar opening gives way to the classic warmongering of “Passage of the Nemesis”, complete with blastbeats, fury, desperate growls and there’s a filthy stench going around. This is the same world as that of Limbonic Art, Devilish Impressions and Emperor. The fury is punctuated by delightful but simultaneously sinister classical passages. “Overdose of Gray” comes more from the chaotic end of Limbonic Art. The tinkling sounds like the dolls are coming out to do horrible things. Fury is in the air, but above all there’s the ghastly sound of horror. The music swings up and down so it’s quite melodic but it’s swinging up and down like a lead weight. The album continues in the same vein throughout. It remains atmospheric and there’s a dramatic build-up on “Revelations” which is like a Black Metal march. A mad violinist comes into it and supplements the deep orchestral sound on “Maere”, another lead-swinging track which has the added bonus of an eerie spoken part penetrating the gloom and enhancing the atmosphere. Despairing screams, majesty and pauses for reflection enter the dark scene to capture our attention.
I liked “Irreversible Decay” but I also felt some disappointment. The album has good atmosphere but lacked in range compared to the bands I have mentioned above. It tended to be either “rage” or “mellow”, yet there were some really good additional touches especially in the spoken and orchestral parts. The quality of playing was excellent. Many of the tracks sounded similar however and on my copy the gap between the tracks was so long that at the start I kept having to check whether it had finished. As a result, there was a loss of continuity. This is a production issue. I enjoyed “Irreversible Decay” but for me it was a bit shallow.
http://www.saille.be
http://www.myspace.com/saillemetal
http://www.code666.net
