| CD REVIEW Decadence |
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Band : Decadence “And the prize for most frequently used bandname in the Metal scene is…”…have you guessed? Indeed, Decadence must be one of the most used bandnames in history! In Thrash Metal alone, there’s been a band from Belgium, one from the Czech Republic, one from Norway, and 3 from the US. On top, it’s been used by a Pop band, a Dark Ambient project, two Progressive Rock/ Metal acts, a Death/ Black act, and 4 other bands with “metal” as a monicker…and that’s only the bands I know of! Thís Decadence, was started during 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden, when guitarists Christian Lindholm and Niklas Rädberg left Devastator to form a new band. By the time Kitty Saric (aka Metallic Kitty, ex- Divine Dominion and the short-lived Dekapitera) went to audition, the guitarist duo had already enlisted drummer Peter Lindqvist, and as Demented guitarist Kenneth Lantz always followed Saric around on Decadence practices, he was duely inducted as their session bassist (a wise decision, as he’s also a very good sound and mixing engineer). This initial line-up recorded the band’s first demo Land Of Despair, but before it was released in February 2004, Lindqvist left due to having two other bands he played in and more confidence in. Patrik Frögeli joined a week before the demo’s release, but then problems arose with the guitarists when Lindholm was to do his military service, and the band ended up firing both. Lantz dropped his “job” with Demented to join Decadence full-time as their new lead guitarist, enrolled Roberto Vacchi Segerlund in his stead (they already knew him from the drummer auditions), and completed their line-up in the Fall of 2004 with the addition of rhythm guitarist Mikael Sjölund. The band completed their self-titled debut full-length (again recorded/ mixed by Lantz) in March of 2005, and the positive reviews led to plenty of live dates in the year to come. But what also came, were renewed arguments within the band, and after their Summer 2005 tour, Saric got major health issues due to the situation in the band. After a very serious band meeting in June, she fired both Sjölund and Segerlund, replacing them respectively with Daniel Green and Joakim Antman. Frögeli followed through the out door in August, his replacement being Erik Röjäs. By November 2005 this new line-up of the band had finished their second full-length The Creature, and this album is often referred to by fans and reviewers as “the Aftermath Of Violence”! 2006 regretfully saw a repeating of the band’s internal struggles, when Green starts to grow away more and more from the now firm core of the band composed of Saric, Lantz, Antman, and Röjäs. To keep the peace within the band, the core decides to fire their rhythm guitarist, and continue with session players until the right person comes along. Hence, Castillion’s Ulf Sörman joins as session guitarist for a fivesome of gigs in the Fall of 2006. In October of that same year, the band announces their signing to Metallic Kitty’s newly started Indie label Human Technological Institute (shortened to HTI), Kitty now also acting as their manager. Only a month later, the band has their new full-length 3rd Stage Of Decay (again with Lantz behind the knobs, whom also performed all guitars on the album; the title reflecting on the band’s 3rd and strongest line-up yet) on the plate. 2007 started positively when Kitty found Simon Galle (of Alistair) as the band’s new second guitarist, and continued upwards when in the Fall the band licences the album to Japanese label Spiritual Beast (distributed over there by major Universal). In early 2008 Earache records shows its interest in the band, including the song “Corrosion” (off their last album) in the track-list of the Thrashing Like A Maniac compilation. Shortly after, the band also licenced 3rd Stage Of Decay (and albums to come)for worldwide distribution to Massacre Records. In high spirits, the band starts recording this latest album, but just before its finalisation, Galle decides to step out of music, his lust to continue gone, a need to go into sports having grown on him more and more. The sudden decision came as somewhat of a surprize to the others, who hadn’t seen things coming…but they remain friends with their former guitarist, and decide to continue as a 4-piece until another suitable person comes along. Right, so musically brings “Melodic Thrash Metal”, which to them is “like the bridge where Thrash and Melodic Death meet,” and described as “Thrash Metal with the heaviness of Melodic Death Metal, without the keyboards.” Kitty brings extreme aggressive vocals with growl techniques as well as Thrash Metal screams into the mix. Overall, the music tends to catch one by the balls from the first listening. Whether what comes after is a agreeable fondling or an unpleasant squeezing, much depends on the listener’s personal tastes and music appreciation. Drawing the inplication of the previous sentence out a bit, you might say I came again and again. Perhaps not my best ever, but I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the dual guitar runs, the “melodic” lead and solo passages, and Kitty’s aggressive vocals! To find out whether you belong to the same categoty of music lovers as myself, listen to what the bandhas posted at myspace.com/decadenceswe (at the moment I looked, there wasn’t any material off the new album, but what’s posted IS representative of the band’s sound!) Darn…before I forget: the promo copy we got was from Spiritual Beast, meaning there’s a bonus track with the very beautiful instrumental “The Demons Run” (which does have some keyboards played in it as well as some acoustic guitar). I’m not sure whether the version of the album the band issued in Scandinavia, or the one distributed by Massacre, will also have this track. 88/100 Tony. |