Hannover, Germany is famous for a few things. One being the world famous vomitorium known as the Octoberfest, where, German culture is distilled into key components including steins of bastard strength pilsner, bratwurst, scantily clad students dressed in lederhosen serving 40 year old males with pale undercooked sausages whilst said males lampoon oom-pah bands. It’s also where The Beatles earnt their spurs, playing a million sets a night to increasingly violent audiences in the 1960’s. It is also a city that was reduced to 90% ruins during the second world war but is now also just as famous for its red-light district Reitwallstraße, a den of inequity famed around the world. It is also the home of self-proclaimed ‘Melodic Groove Metal’ peddlers Drowning Deep from which we are treated to this, their debut (?) self-released EP, Human Decay.
First off, having played in a few bands over the years. I know how difficult it is to firstly write and then perform said songs to ‘crowds’ of indifferent, scowling bastards. Now this was almost 20 years ago, well before the advent of the internet and the huge opportunities it gives bands to proliferate their musical offerings to the world. In days of yore, this was only achieved by either knowing the reviews editor of NME, RAW, Kerrang, Metal Forces, Terrorizer etc. or by printing out flyers ten to the dozen and picketing others bands gigs giving out flyers to those going into said gigs and praying you managed to bribe enough of your mates to the next gig at The Bull & Gate to cover the absurd ‘Pay To Play’ bollocks that managed to exist to rip off bands (certainly on the London toilet circuit) for years. So, things are easier now right? Well in one way yes, you have a global audience at your fingertips via Facebook, Spotify etc BUT then so do all the hundreds of thousands of ‘bands’ out there all who are clamouring for your likes and downloads. It is also this apparent promise of global exposure that inspires bands such as Drowning Deep, to propel their music out there regardless of its artistic merits, with no real thought to quality control. Just because you can do it, really you must ask yourself, should you?
The answer unfortunately here is a big fat no. Human Decay is the best (worst) example of why some bands should keep their own counsel, lock themselves away in a fetid rehearsal room/garage/cell and keep quiet, don’t move and hope that no-one sees you. Listen, this is not the worst thing I have heard. It is a bit like early Halloween…maybe…at a push, but without the vocal dexterity, song writing, production or talent. It tries hard, like the runt of a litter, desperate for its mother’s affections but continually rebuffed, forced into eating its own excrement to survive whilst being bullied by his younger brothers and sisters. You can’t but help root for the underdog, but when the songs are so poorly crafted, the playing sloppy and the production akin to having been recorded by the band as they are isolating in their separate German rigs, separated from each other and then individually playing different songs at different times and told not to stop until they reach the end of their respective songs. The vocals are more out of tune than in and sound strained and horrible. The lyrics are trite, and the drumming makes Lars Ulrich look like Gene Hoglan.
Look, anyone trying to play heavy music should be commended and welcomed into the metal brotherhood, but when things are this bad, you may find yourself reaching for your copy of The Best of Fleetwood Mac album, just to cleanse your pallet. It’s not heavy, it certainly doesn’t groove and any melody is rendered moot but the sheer awfulness of everything that is piled onto this EP. The only saving grace is that its only seven tracks long.
(2/10 Nick Griffiths)
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