Iron Bonehead Productions has an ear to the underground, and this time they are distributing Decrepit Soul‘s latest full-length album, The Coming of War, for Sinister Essence Records. Decrepit Soul hails from Australia, which has been a fertile hotbed of underground metal the past number of years. Their black/death attack is just the sort of music that the underground is primed to hear next. So, if the tremolo riffs stay rooted on the sixth and fifth strings at the lower frets, turn this monster up full volume to hear swirling, downtuned mayhem come out of the speakers. Fans of Profound Lore Records alum Pissgrave might like a bite of this beast.
The guys on Decrepit Soul know what makes a good jam. They never settle on one main riff to anchor the song, or blast and stop with repetitiveness. The most intense songs are at blast pace, but there’s always a cacophony of riffs to keep things interesting. The vocals sound like tortured rasps and never once strays into anything less than intense. The band invokes some nice atmosphere on the record, but never so much as to remain strictly atmospheric in style.
As many of you know, the dark tremolo riffs are conducive to atmospherics, but this band only blends it in subtly. Mostly, the band likes to keep things uptempo, and the guitars never chug away to the listener’s chagrin. Pissgrave does play some chug riffs and heavy shreds, so the comparison may seem ill-fitting at first. Somehow, the production values render the guitar tone similar to Pissgrave’s Suicide Euphoria, which I absolutely loved, and while the comparison may find arguable uncertainty amongst many fans, I found the overall tone similar enough to provide reference to it. I will however make clear that the bands don’t play the exact same style.
Black/death bands have been growing steadily in number as the sub-genre has continued to get popular. Decrepit Soul however, don’t sound commercial-friendly, and retain the traits that underground progenitors of the style have been largely known for. Decrepit Soul is clearly a band worth the listen, and will appeal to many rabid, underground black/death enthusiasts. The song structure is not immediately recognizable in that the songwriting would sound catchy, but The Coming of War isn’t a difficult listen at all. It’s easy to like, provided your ears are attune to this musical barbarity.
The Coming of War is primitive in tone and savage in execution. There are seven tracks and the band don’t experiment with long-winding ambient interludes or much of that nonsense. The drums thunder with authority and at one point in the album, at the start of track three, the title-track, “The Coming of War,” the drummer lets loose a solo. The band then commence proceedings in the name of brutality, and first note to last is purposeful, heavy, and only faintly melodic. While I can recommend The Coming of War to black/death fans and underground extreme metal addicts, the platter isn’t benchmark elite in the greatest sense, so like it or not, if you don’t love it, you’re not a raving lunatic for finding this decent, without necessarily proclaiming it essential.
But, hate it you might just never. This is a good album, and only the start of Decrepit Soul’s rise from the depths of obscurity, so support good metal and if you’re bored shitless on a Saturday night when your girlfriend is out clubbing with all her girlfriends, play this set of tunes for your precious listening pleasure.
