Where to begin with Decapitated? From their explosion on to the death metal landscape around the millennium and resultant praise from all corners of the metal press, the Poles went on a seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory over the course of four albums. The barometer of hype surrounding them will for me always be the stupidly oversold gig they played at the Camden Underworld in 2004. Despite the departure of vocalist Sauron, things were still looking great for the band as they headed into a new era with Covan. But the tragic events of November 2007 very nearly ended everything in one night. With his brother Vitek gone and Covan’s life destroyed, it was a miracle that sole surviving member Vogg would create anything with Decapitated again – let alone something as surprising and manic as 2011’s ‘Carnival is Forever’. With ‘Blood Mantra’, we have a band truly reborn.
After a few seconds of alien sound, a cymbal and riff (which goes from one to both speakers) herald ‘Exiled in Flesh’. As double bass blasting unceremoniously appears, the shredding takes on a decidedly death metal appearance. The production is somewhat warmer and more balanced than on ‘Carnival is Forever’ and definitely keeps us locked in place as the music gets more elaborate with open sounding guitar parts clashing with destructive, blast-beat driven ones. In fact, there are some very definite nods to older Decapitated in the opener, and it’s a really great start. ‘The Blasphemous Psalm to the Dummy God Creation’ subjects us to more blasts and precise, needling riffs before the crazy factor is upped again with bass clambering grottily all over the place. What I appreciate about the band since its re-emergence is the spontaneity in its music – particularly Vogg’s guitar work, which goes from the mechanisation of old to Andreas Kisser styled sparseness at the drop of a hat.
Rafał’s vocals are also of course more familiar since ‘Carnival is Forever’ and it just seems as if the band has hit its stride with the new members. Groove plays a blindingly fundamental part in Decapitated anno 2014 to the extent that it’s not really possible to refer to the Poles as death metal anymore. There are flashes, sure, but the likes of ‘Veins’ sum up where they are at. Relentless groove in the shape of Pantera, hints of metallic dissonance like that pioneered by Messhuggah and sections which meander add an entirely new dimension to the term ‘Decapitated’. Far from being disparate or a mess, the compositions simply breathe more than they ever did in the previous mechanical death phase. Although linearity does still have its place within the band’s repertoire – as on the title track, where the bass peddles hammer away; the kind of detail that, added to the wider picture, gives ‘Blood Mantra’ a far more focussed appearance than its predecessor.
More fundamentally than anything else, ‘Blood Mantra’ absorbs the listener into its darkened world precisely due to the many shades that have been brushed across it. ‘Nest’ contrasts a stuttering axis of guitar and drums with a vast, reflective section to great effect, while on ‘Instinct’ frenetic riffs avalanche onto the listener in anticipation of the arrangement becoming madder still. As if displaying some kind of personality disorder, serene strumming begins to interject in these hectic riffs to create a brilliantly paradoxical scene. The greatest track of all however, is the seven-and-a-half minute ‘Blindness’. Starting tentatively the band really manages to convey the subject matter of this slow burning, proggy number. Like being trapped in a deep, pitch black hole, hopelessness and anguish inform almost every aspect – to the point that the vocals even take on a bit of the old Jaz Coleman. Atmospheric to the extreme and replete with an excellent solo, this is masterful stuff.
Rather curiously, closer ‘Red Sun’ only consists of the vaguest of vague strumming to haunt the last part of the record. Personally, it provides a surprisingly powerful end to this latest instalment of Decapitated, and basically underlines the modern spirit of the band. It’s fairly obvious what impact the life shattering events of 2007 have had, and continue to have, on main man Vogg. Where the consequent transition in musical style has evidently turned off many a listener, I really appreciate the off-kilter, expressive stuff that the band has been doing. If anything, I found some of what they did in the past a tad too mechanical. While there’s definite greatness in both eras, ‘Blood Mantra’ is certainly on a par with ‘Nihilty’, if not the band’s best work to date.
(9/10 Jamie)
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