Vicious Rumors are a long-standing band In American heavy and power metal. Having formed in 1979 the band has had a very consistent career with 13 studio albums and four live releases under their belts. With such a long running career it comes as no surprise that many of the more popular American heavy and power metal bands possess a sound which will probably have been influenced by Vicious Rumors in one way or another. I take Iced Earth for instance. Whilst this sound may have a big Euro metal feel in places Vicious Rumors will certainly have played some part in their sound and vice versa, there are elements of the Iced Earth sound here. Solid chugging rhythms, powerful gallops and commanding vocals, the sound is so familiar but at the same time has its own unique feel. Having said this Vicious Rumors are a band who have a long career I am unfamiliar with so this will be an experience for myself and possibly a new band to start looking into. After all the band who was there during the primordial days of the American heavy metal scene, the birth of thrash, the birth of progressive metal and subsequently, the countless new sub genres which have arisen over the years must be doing something right to ensure such longevity.
To give a brief oversight of the album it is your standard (for lack of a better term) heavy metal album. A variety of hard-hitting traditional metal tracks meet stadium filling band style big numbers and tracks which you might mistake for being Ones which were composed and released by their peers; titular and opening track “Celebration Decay” could easily be mistaken for something off of an Iced Earth album. It’s tight rhythmic execution, tremendously heavy guitar sound and intense delivery about an oncoming apocalyptic event is an attention-grabbing track which slams away with ferocious riffs and will no doubt be a force to be reckoned with when the band deliver it on the live stage.
This initial sound is prevalent across the release, the right rhythmic execution and dominant guitar sound makes up a good majority of the songs. From the thundering gallops to the powerful chord chugs and precise riffs, this approach drives the album on and it is hard to ignore the urge to raise your fist in the air or to headbang along to it. It has that gripping feel which most of the standout heavy and power metal acts have and this in turn makes it significantly more memorable, a plus in anyone’s book when it comes to releasing new material and being able to stand the test of time!
It is where the band seems to shift directions is where my interest is drawn however. “Darkness Divine” which appears round the halfway point of the release is the first major instance of this. The moody and atmospheric clean sections go hand in hand with some powerful chord based chorus sections and the shift to a more dynamic metal section towards the final third of the track allows for some variety compared to the previous hard hitting metal tracks previously offered. “Long Way Home” has that stadium rock feel to it with the simplicity and catchy hooks littering it, but as you listen, it is hard to shake the familiar feel it possesses to “The Thin Line Between Love And Hate” off Iron Maiden’s Brave New World album. The hazy feel to the verse delivery, the upswing and powerful impacting choruses and more expressive and less rigid lead section helps this track break out of the typical metal feel the album is dominated by and it is a good track despite its simplicity.
“Cold Blooded” has some terrific storytelling through the vocal delivery and the music really helps bring the lyrics to life as it oozes with power and atmosphere, whilst “Death Eternal” screams out classic 80’s heavy metal with a powerful chug and some soaring melodic vocal and guitar sections. The second half of the release definitely has more variety to it and is more engaging compared to the first half of the album and on subsequent listens I found myself seeming to pay more attention to the music once ‘Darkness Divine’ started up.
In all, Celebration Decay is a decent traditional/power metal release. It has the heaviness, the melodic aspects, the strong vocals and some damn catchy moments throughout the later tracks of the album. Whilst it is a good recording, it doesn’t quite give me reason to go on a discography deep dive, but it does warrant some attention at least if the band are on the bill of a festival I end up at when the year of chaos finally ends.
(6.5/10 Fraggle)
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