Artist: Decaying
Title: Encirclement
Genre: Death Metal
Release Date: 2nd January 2012
Label: Hellthrasher Productions
Album Review
Just barely a year after the release of their debut album ‘Devastate’ in 2010, DECAYING have been hard at work and have quickly cranked out their next “war metal” opus. Focusing on a thick, yet sludging old school Death Metal tone, music of the music here strips away the insane technicality of the modern Death Metal band and just aims to create somewhat repetitive, but highly enjoyable groove along with epic tracks. The overall sound is a bit fuzzy but still can clearly be heard, and the vocals have just the right growl to them to be ferocious but also able to be understood (somewhat). Comparisons to this band have been made to groups like HAIL OF BULLETS and also earlier GRAVE, also known for their tendency to focus on the “chug” formation of music to get their listeners engaged or also writing “war metal”. On ‘Encirclement’ fans can hear the excitement in a track like ‘From the Cradle to the Grave’ which starts out for the most part with its marching, thick riffs and then leads to the outro with a bit more melody that seems a bit more Thrash inspired. Other tracks like ‘Artillery Barrage’ include the more typical war opening themes that Metal bands like to bring about such as sirens, cannon fire, and other atmospheric elements to get listeners into the setting.
The longer tracks are always the hardest to entertain because they are so long, and therefore require more attention and skill to create a decent one. For Funeral Doom it is easy because the music is one giant atmospheric ball of slow, repetitive riffs and keyboards mixed in with deep growls that pretty much make it so that a band can write gibberish (if they want to) slap in the music and fans of the genre would probably still consider it great… until they read the lyrics. With DECAYING the epics here require a bit more than that, and certainly a little more kick. This “kick” is evident in that these tracks are faster and also a bit more Thrash influenced with a track like ‘Conclusion’ which is particularly quick due to the drum pace, and with that the rest of the instruments follow without complaint and it feels a lot more like the kind of Death Metal fans of the modern era might enjoy. The massive epic ‘The Rising Sun’ isn’t as fast, but rather switches between faster and slower sections much in the way that ‘From the Cradle…’ does and also includes a great melodic solo, offering fans a more balanced offering of crushing Metal to go along with the interesting lyrics. Considering the performance on this album is only done between three guys, it feels like there is more going on the album, but it only impresses listeners more when such talent is displayed in such a quick period of time. Like a war tank, DECAYING will bring a shellshock of how good they are to the Death Metal community.
Tracklist
01. Initiation - 2:21
02. Operation Citadel - 6:17
03. From the Cradle to the Grave - 7:52
04. Artillery Barrage - 3:49
05. Battle of the Somme - 6:06
06. Conclusion - 8:59
07. On the Path of Subjugation - 5:06
08. The Hell of Verdun - 7:47
09. Public Enlightenment - 7:33
10. The Rising Sun - 10:14
Line-up
Matias Nastolin - Vocals, Guitars, Bass
Benjam Lahdenpää - Drums
Henri Hirvonen - Guitars
Website
http://www.myspace.com/decayingofficial
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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