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The Polish band Decapitated has now reached their seventh studio album; just a few months ago, their latest work, “Organic Hallucinations”, officially came out. However, I feel it is necessary to take a step back a few years and return to what can be called their breakthrough album, “Nihility”, released by Earache (the illustrious label that has sponsored many bands in the field) in 2002. From the beginning, they were announced as the “child prodigies” since their first release, which saw them barely of age, already showcased an unexpected technical prowess for such young guys. It is understandable that with age, things were destined only to improve, and thus the band was acclaimed and put a step above others just for this reason. The contract with said label certainly gave a further boost to this group which now, overwhelmed by recording commitments (seven works in eight years of activity), has stood out in the Death scene, even overshadowing the name of much more valid and "seasoned" fellow countrymen like Trauma and Mutilation, not to mention the Sceptic or the historic Vader. Probably, those who praise this band don't have a great idea of what Death metal is, or rather, what it used to be, and they rely on the newcomers.
It is impossible for me to question the technical skills of the quartet: throughout the album, it is clear what these youngsters are capable of doing with their instruments. The guitarist performs scales and chords of notable difficulty, all executed at a speed that borders on the impossible: the riffing is indeed very complicated and alternates practically continuous stop and go with more intense and rocky parts. There are very few slowdowns, and frequent are the solos, all rigorously performed in "Tapping," as per the traditional school. The drumming, also very close to the classic styles, consists of assorted off-beats (including sporadic odd times) and double-bass rolls that, besides testing the drummer's endurance, represent the true backbone of the songs. The drummer glories in his skill in almost every song: there is always a few seconds dedicated to a small solo. Its purpose? Probably just to amaze those who listen to an extreme metal CD for the first time. The bassist plugs the gaps, meaning he is given no space and does nothing but cover the points that a single guitarist can't adequately fill. The only one who doesn't care about being noticed at all costs as a phenomenon is the singer who, with his lasting and low growling (and to be honest, a bit static), completes the work excellently. The eight songs are well-articulated within themselves and show how the barely older than teenage Decapitated already know how to compose very well: certainly, the help of a perfect, almost artificial production (if we want, similar to that of a Nu Metal album) greatly benefits the entire LP.
So far, it might seem that I've given you the recipe for the perfect Brutal Death album: plenty of technique, highly structured compositions, and indescribable power. But “Nihility” has the effect of a wet firecracker: it doesn't explode. Their sound is embalmed with the characteristic traits of the Floridian bands from the early past decade, and so you get the impression of being faced with a more technical version of Malevolent Creation, Deicide, or Morbid Angel. The songs are indistinguishable from each other, and one often arrives at the unpleasant repetition of some riffs, perhaps changed by two or three notes: the mood is absolutely non-existent, and this tears the mask off our guys. It's evident that they make music only to boast about their abilities, following a mean principle of imitation of those who brought the genre up from nothing. Indeed. Because the Decapitated bring nothing new, just like many other bands outside the mainstream (Blood Red Throne, just to name one); it seems that their only interest is power and nothing else (and to confirm this, just take a look at the lyrics, as stale as ever). Forget the melodic incursions of the aforementioned Trauma or the experimental approaches of the new blood; this group offers nothing similar.
That's why, at the beginning, I said that “Nihility” might only enamor a novice: anyone with an idea of what many other bands of our days (see Cryptopsy, Gorguts, and Cephalic Carnage) are capable of will understand that even if the members of this group are very young, their proposal is dead and buried. Moreover, if we were to be particular, the three bands I mentioned earlier alone already have execution skills infinitely superior to the Poles, so I don't see the reason for all their display.
Surely it's not an LP to throw away because, though already heard, it's not rubbish, and it deserves a passing grade. From here to make them the new gods of Death metal, however, there's a huge gap: and don't come telling me it's no longer the season for Brutal Death metal because there are bands that are living proof that it isn't so. In conclusion, a record and a band unjustifiably celebrated, technically valid, but lacking in ideas and certainly not exceptional: they are exceptional only in their arrogance.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Perfect Dehumanisation (The Answer?) (05:25)
Rise! And look at your face
Centre of existence leans toward the end
One visage of earth
Cold flame under the mask
Cracked face of dying spaces
Millions of lonely splinters disappear
Uniting flame start fading
Universe enters the new cycle
Outlines of uncountable entity growing grew
Morbidly dependent sons of error
Great dance comes to an end
Spheres of existence reaching the center
Forms of existence wash away
Resemblance becomes a curse
Ultimate justice in nothingness
Last error is no more
02 Eternity Too Short (04:32)
World of shadows too blind to cry
Worms crowded together to weak and want
Running from reflection to reflection
We measure the world with measure of our blindness
Can you see while looking at the shadows?
Can you touch the shapeless illusion?
Can you hear the echo of words never told?
Can you taste your own transitory notions?
One color of earth shimmering with different shades
Shapeless shadows independent of the light
Kneeling n the ruins of sacred towns
Crying on ashes of refuted truth
We shall remain and dream again
And moment of awakening is too short to recognize
05 Names (03:52)
To stars and suns we carry
To superhumans names in stone
Into the depths of seas of grand desires
To the thought pure, into nothingness
Limitless solitude without numbers and names
Where names a curse no longer are
The ideal one- the true number of man
The sick stench of crowded dogs
With their eyes closed
That are looking into others for gods
Rotting millions keeping guard
Of their own truths which you cannot see
A many-headed worm of names uncounted
Is eating its tail in wretched self-hatred
Blinded millions on the road to death
The hunger of self-destruction always defeats
Raise your gaze- you can't
You won't- it's easier to follow the herd
You suck on an empty bag of words
You fulfill yourself in a cage
Of your own blindness
Carry me, my wings of hatred
Above the fear of knowing all other
I want to see my very own death
06 Spheres of Madness (05:15)
On bigger than everything
In the crown of your own self you preach darkness
Yet would you be able to obey the lack of light?
Darkness, light, word, existence
Could it be false?
Salvation is nothing- nothing is salvation
The great fractal of existence sinks into itself
Nature calls for destroyer, desires
It's the highest time for zero to come
Collapsing reality craves for the end
Everything rots in itself
Maybe its time to stop worshipping the own image
So non-existence is the only sense?
I rise in spheres of madness
In darkness of unknown I perish
To see, to remain in all time
Eternity in second, not!
07 Babylon's Pride (04:15)
Senses, flower of existence- bow to Babylon
Pain, father of creation- bow to Babylon
Look- you're the creator of your own creator
Your beginning overthrows your myth
Parody of perfection feeding on mere mortal
Perfect being can only exist in itself
Let him die at last.
I will never worship reflection of imperfection
Questions: I carry my own cross to be
Flesh, blood, mind- see the flower of Babylon
Stigma of earth will never disappear
Aiming to zero is the testimony of existence
I'm here to be, to watch and to fade
All world focused on one single entity
I kiss my reflection in the universe
Alone in dying Babylon: proud
08 Symmetry of Zero (02:37)
Thickening mass of reality
Curve the existence descends to zero
Crowd loosing its colors
Tightening nature points at the middle
Weighing of central point
The other side of existence arrives
Reflection of what is known devours imperfection
Existence is defective by nature
Highest independence- sacred zero
Final order-sacred zero
Lack of imperfection-sacred zero
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