Decomposed
Hope Finally Died

News from the "Discovering Forgotten Death Metal" series; the eleventh part I dedicate to Decomposed, a band for whom the adjective "forgotten" I believe is not even enough.

Before beginning, a clarification is needed; I can think of at least two other bands with the same name, so if you look for information, it's better to mention the album title in your search, otherwise, you might end up with records that have nothing to do with Old School. These Decomposed are the English ones, active until 1993, the year in which they released "Hope Finally Died": our guys, like only true Old School Death bands know how to do, burned out at the speed of light leaving behind only three demos ("Sermons Of Morbidity" -1990-, "Ego Sum lex Mundi" -1991-, "The Funeral Obsession" -1992-) and this unique Full Length published by Candlelight Records. Needless to say, this album is a true cult, and, even if unknown, it represents in my opinion one of the highest peaks ever reached by Death Doom.

Death Doom, my dear sirs, following in the footsteps of compatriots Benediction (who in the two previous years had released "The Grand Leveller" and "Transcend The Rubicon") or overseas counterparts like Accidental Suicide; or if you prefer to stay in Europe, it's impossible not to mention Asphyx, genuine pioneers of this trend. But what exactly is Death Doom? And above all, how could Death Doom have been born concurrently or even before Doom in the strict sense?

Well, it is essentially a very slow and measured Death, generally endowed with a very strong and suffocating mood but completely devoid of Gothic-like atmospheres (in short, very little melody and no clean vocals). Death Doom disappeared from the scenes in a few years (around 1994) and was reborn from its own ashes under the name Funeral Doom (I cannot help but mention Thergothon, Disembowelment, and Esoteric among the "Pilgrim Fathers" of Funeral Doom).

Therefore, Death Doom quickly disappeared from the scenes and even from conversation; today everyone is reluctant to use this classification because it's not clear who to include in the list as almost all groups that belonged to it have disappeared and it is often preferred to insert them (with difficulty, I would add) into Death.

I remember that during the same period the true and proper Doom began to emerge: bands like Anathema, My Dying Bride, and Paradise Lost (I mention the most famous ones because I'm not very well-versed in Doom) had just appeared, especially, as my small list shows, on English soil. But if the aforementioned bands indeed sounded different from all other Metal groups, bands in the style of Benediction or Decomposed in fact just seemed like very slow Death bands, which certainly did not facilitate their early days.

Although I fear of offending your intelligence, I must specify that I really like the Death Doom genre.

In particular, these Decomposed bear a proposal laden with intrinsic decadence, both physical and moral, that forces the listener to grapple with the transience of life; big words wasted on five rowdy kids? Maybe yes, but by giving their lyrics a quick read and letting the music carry you a bit, you might change your mind too.

Certainly the influence of the recently (at the time) deceased Thrash Metal is still present; especially the solos maintain the "stage presence" typical of '80s Thrash but set aside the vulgarity of said genre; are you familiar with Asphyx solos? The ones of Decomposed are similar, filled with derisive sadness and an almost mocking disillusionment; and "hope finally died." But the songs of Decomposed, however much they rely on them, do not focus solely on the solo: it is preceded and followed by bloodless arpeggios, chords so heavy and dark as to resemble the thick darkness found at night in a cemetery. That darkness which, beyond childish fears, is objectively unsettling.

The structure of the songs is not the most traditional; generally, the songs begin with classic Death riffs then transform halfway into Doom slogs. From there on, the riffing slows down and regains tone only at the end, where usually the initial guitar sequences are resumed.

If you season a musical proposition of this type with not exactly "easy" lyrics, I believe you can get an idea of the emotional reach of this work.

If you are looking for something technical, it's better to forget about Decomposed: our guys are not revealed as great musicians. The guitarists don't deliver fast scales or virtuosity but a rather linear riffing always contained in terms of time; no particular emotions come even from behind the skins, from where instead comes a moderate use of the double kick and an evident preference for more Thrashy times. However, considering that it is a Release that prioritizes Mood, I believe that not only is there nothing technical to expect, but that generally one should pay more attention to the compositional aspect rather than strictly musical.

I want to point out the length of the seven tracks (an average of six minutes each) and the presence of two instrumentals, "Lying In State" and the concluding "(Forever) Lying In State".

And I want to point out the trio "Taste The Dying", "Falling Apart" and "At Rest": three aligned pearls that have stayed in my head for weeks.

I would also like to spend a few words on the production, which fits the proposed material like a glove, and on the singer, a Growler who can only delight fans of the genre.

Forty minutes of "Memento Mori" is what anyone who decides to devote themselves to "Hope Finally Died" should expect (let's hope they are at least a fan of Benediction): the litany of a symbolic funeral of Hope reminiscent of Baudelaire.

"...Is This My Funeral?..."