Ah, Vaultwraith. My favourite trve kvlt metal genre mixed up with my least favourite (only because power metal does not even figure on the chart). I expected this to be less groovy and more epic. Perhaps, my perception has been marred by the likes of Darkthrone, Hellripper, and Midnight. Admittedly, all three lean more into punk than heavy metal, but I digress.
Now, this album is characteristic of Vaultwraith’s signature blend of heavy metal instrumentation and black metal vocals. It’s mid-tempo to the extreme, which really threw me off at the beginning. I really did expect a more epic, rifftastic, anthem-like sound. After all, why else combine these two genres? Perhaps, it is for the sake of trolling.
Decomposing Spells truly is a bit of a troll. It really plays with one’s expectations and throws them out of the door the second it commences. And then you keep on waiting, song after song, for something, a small glimpse, of your hopes and efforts being rewarded, yet it never comes, like the endless build-up of an edm set at an mdma fuelled fiasco. Not that I know what that’s like. Honestly, it’s kind of as if Old Nick suddenly took himself dangerously too seriously.
The album does pick up halfway through, with Church Burned being particularly faster, and the following The Sinister Skythe even sounding slightly catchy. But the lack of variety in both music and vocals would have already exhausted those who’ve embarked on a full album listen before they even get make it halfway through. It was at this point that I realised that I was basically listening a boring version of In Solitude with black metal vocals. If you’ve ever wondered what that would be like, seek no further. Or do, since Decomposing Spells is unlikely to scratch that particular itch.
(4/10 The Flâneur)
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