This is Decapitated’s fifth album and the most remarkable, given that they have pulled together after losing two of their members in 2007 following a bus accident.
Typically Polish in their dour Death Metal assaults, in spite of my closeness to this area, I’ve never really switched on to Decapitated’s music. I’ve seen them play live, and while the writer next to me was enthusiastically living and breathing every moment and frantically capturing it all on her piece of paper, I just felt I was being mercilessly hammered into the ground. I bought “Nihility” (2002) and whilst it’s a good album, its 35 minutes seems like 3 hours, such is the brutality and harshness. I do not however underestimate the band’s influence. It’s said that many modern US Death Metal and Metalcore bands have taken inspiration from the music of Decapitated.
The opening track “The Knife” presented no surprises. Deep, throaty and in your face, it’s typically uncompromising and highly technical. It’s also fast and furious. This is our reminder that Decapitated are here. The assault intensifies with “United”. Its utterly dark Death Metal energy features some exciting excursions with no loss of intensity. Slipped seamlessly in the middle is an absolutely brilliant guitar solo. The album is becoming noteworthy for its breathtaking technique.
But what we’ve come for is on the third track “Carnival is Forever”. After sinister and shadowy beginnings, the juggernaut starts up. The drumming signals punishment. We hear ferocious screams. It’s like an open attempt to crush our skull. But wait … it slows down, we hear dark pickings and it stops altogether. Will the violence return? Of course. The forward-thrusting and ferocious piledriver is back. Necks will be snapped in the headbanging process. There’s an eerie industrial whistling in the background to accompany the relentless and pulsating riff. The track “Carnival is Forever” is 8 minutes and 48 seconds of Death Metal magic, and on its own makes listening to this album worthwhile.
There’s always a problem finding something to follow a master track but Decapitated do the right thing and come up with another ferocious and semi-melodic technical blast in “Homo Sum”. The guitars once again create the machine-gun fire, heading off into still darker territory. They’ve got us surrounded. The rhythm remains but we are taken off at the same time into still more dark places. Decapitated combine the process of hammering us into the ground with subtle Death Metal technical excellence and variety. “404” is less fluid and highly technical. This shows a different side of the band. What is common is the thunderous background. “View from a Hole” starts surprisingly with something approaching a Latin rhythm but sinister guitar work and vocal whisperings soon encroach upon proceedings. The track pans out in familiar fury and energy. There’s great control and mix of styles. The result is as ever potent and deathly. What I was listening to was absolute Polish Death Metal with extra twists and turns. Less subtle is “Pest” with its ferocious intensity and its hard and heavy hammer blows, which signal another headbanging opportunity. By complete contrast, the album ends with “Silence” which throws us off the scent completely, if we were naïve to decide which box we want to put Decapitated into. The band’s technical capability is evident in this “outro”, which is a quiet and atmospheric guitar extravaganza. “Silence” has shades of an Opeth acoustic track, specialising in dark and shadowy ambiance. It’s unexpected but makes a nice dessert after a heavy and crunchy meal.
Whatever personal reservations I had about Decapitated’s early albums, they are dispelled with this one. In addition to the expected technical excellence, “Carnival is Forever” has power and creativity by the bucketload. It’s an interesting album, and it’s a pleasure to be captured by such imaginative brutality.
http://www.myspace.com/decapitated
http://www.decapitatedband.net
Andrew Doherty
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