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Decadence
Chargepoint

Company: Spiritual Beast
Release: 2009
Genre: Thrash
Reviewer: Hail and Kill

  • Thrashing with impassioned relish



    • Decadence are the nastiest thrash quartet to emerge from Sweden in recent years; with their sound rooted in the genre's Teutonic school, these Swedes go about the business of thrashing with impassioned relish. Think Destruction meets Holy Moses and fancy axework (that's the fault of one Kenneth Lantz, who co-produced this album). Eschewing boring intros and any ‘cinematic' feel whatsoever, the opening salvo "Discharge" is introduced by a noodly lick and then proceeds to kick unholy ass. Never stuck to the old' school, growly female death metal vocals from Kitty Saric layer the frenetic tempo of this deadly first strike (Testament pun).

    The following beefcakes "Silent Weapon (For A Quiet War)" and "Out of Ashes" are exercises in far more sophisticated composition. It's at "Point of No Return" however, that the band's melodic sensibilities come into focus. When they want to, Decadence can peddle the speed like the best In Flames or Gamma Ray. Midway through the album, the refreshing energy that has driven the masterful tunes so far starts to run out and the listener risks getting tired of the endless barrage of riffs and one-dimensional drumming from Erik Rojas. Things pick up for "Challenge," which is the best song on "Chargepoint" with its grinding heaviness and strong chorus. The impassioned "Be Home When I'm Gone" blazes away as the band let loose their last full song in record time before the instrumental closer "The Demons Run" arrives.

    As "Chargepoint" wraps, gentle acoustic guitars set the mood for a boring dirge that sees the curtains fall on this ugly little opus. "Chargepoint" might not be the best in the market today, but Decadence are certainly growing as musicians. Come 2011, these guys just might have a new record that REALLY gets everyone's attention.




    Maximum Metal Rating Legend - Full Details
    5 Excellent - Buy it and say a prayer to the metal gods that you were tuned on to this masterpiece. A classic.
    4-4.5 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a clunker or a lacking somewhere to keep it from perfection. You won't feel bad about dropping some bones on these.
    3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler. This is the OK range where you'd search for the record on sale or used.
    3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio. Could show skills but be dull overall. Redeeming qualities for indy bands are effort and passion. Majors that don't try or suck outright end up here.
    2-2.5 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors. There is much better metal out there.
    1-1.5 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
    0 Terrible or an otherwise waste of your life and time.

    Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

    The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.

    Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.


    All reviews for this band:
    CD
    		 TITLE BAND
    DOR
    		 REVIEWER DATE
    		ChargepointDecadence
    2009
    		Hail and Kill10/30/2009


    Interviews found from this band:
    INTERVIEW BAND INTERVIEWER DATE


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