(Below we present Wil Cifer‘s review of the a album by Decrepisy, which will be released on March 28th by Carbonized Records.)
The Portland-based band Decrepisy allow themselves to plunge deeper into the darkness on their sophomore album Deific Mourning. They dig into the catacombs where death metal meets doom. This project features members of Negative Prayer, Vastum, and Coffin Rot. These songs are not heavy thanks to the guitar tones or down-tunings, but due to the songs coming from a place of inner ugliness that is allowed to take itself outward sonically.
Any band can capture Entombed’s sound in the studio, but you are not going to believe demons are in their veins, because they are likely well-adjusted kids with good credit who like the sounds and trappings of metal music, but are detached from the darkness it represents. Then some deal with that darkness by allowing themselves to feel it and live it and that is what comes out when they express themselves in their music. This project is tapping into those places so their instruments become the conduits, and the atmosphere manifested here is the natural progression of where the sound should go rather than neatly checking off the boxes of required genre tropes.
This is expressed in the album in a variety of ways. One of them is how the guitar solos are handled. They add to the mood, rather than being an outburst of shredding for the sake of chaos. The title track serves as an example of this in motion.
The deliberate guitar chug for “Dysautonomic Terror” provides a powerful backbone for the song to be built off. This could be thought of as death doom, though not in the sense most associate with the Peaceville bands. The musical inspiration here draws from a much different corner of ’90s metal. “Spiritual Decay” spills from a more dissonant form of ambience. The lumbering stomp accelerates into a more pit-churning take on the genre. This also serves as an example of how far these guys are willing to descend into darkness, which sets them apart from most of their peers.
Great experimental guitar tones also captured on this album add to its eerie quality. “Severed Ephemerality” carries a chillingly oppressive quality that accelerates as the song progresses. There is a more downtrodden march that comes from the tribal pulse of “Corpseless” that finds the growl of the vocals taking on a call-and-response-like chant. Midway into the song, this gives way to a more mosh-invoking pace. The last song “Afterhours” sounds like a more doom-laden take on early Swans with its droning pulse decorated by creepy guitar.
The tangible depression-made sound captured on this album carries with it a shroud of bleakness that serves as the underlying current everpresent here. The melancholic haze the songs cast feels heavier than the bands who are content with impersonating Incantation, as the emotion invested in these songs feels more dangerous and real. The more aggressive moments of climax feel like a primal cry that accepts the malevolence in this world and celebrates it as part of its apocalyptic whole. Here’s the soundtrack to your next low swing.
https://carbonizedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/deific-mourning
https://decrepisy.bandcamp.com/album/deific-mourning
https://www.facebook.com/p/Decrepisy
https://www.instagram.com/decrepisy