Decomposed – Wither

[nyrating]

30th September 2016 Reinier de Vries Album Reviews 0

Sweden’s Decomposed grew into a band in 2010, shortly after being conceived as a pure one-man Death Metal project. A year later the Stench of Death demo was recorded, which led to the self-titled debut album the following year. Two years thereafter the follow-up, entitled Devouring was released, a creation focused on darkness, horror, and madness.
After a few live performances and quite a few internal struggles, Decomposed had to cease to exist as a live band. All members left, and only composer/founder Jesper Ekstål remained. The work on the third chapter Wither was well under way during this period, and it continued during obstacles of every kind. Wither was recorded mid 2015 by Jesper Ekstål along with drummer Emil Leijon in Studio Blastbeat in Sundsvall (Sweden), the same studio in which the previous albums was recorded.

The band or should I say Jesper, is influenced by old Swedish death bands like Nihilist, Carnage, Entombed, Dismember and Autopsy. This you hear back in the songs, but I have to conclude that the music is not that good and the songs are less strong. Compared with these bands, everything just seems a little less . The songs don’t have the kind of groove, also the riffs don’t have the same chainsaw-like crunch and the grunting/growling of Jesper is good, but not special. The typical D-beating drum style is also missing for the biggest part. Only the track “Submerged” gets closest. That doesn’t make this album a disaster to listen to, there are enough things to like, but it just doesn’t hit me. The dark and evil atmosphere they create on the other hand is a big surplus. Perhaps I listened to too many bands playing this style and got a bit spoiled. Also the fact that I have been listening to the new Asphyx a lot lately doesn’t help. The new Asphyx gives me the feeling of being hit by a leopard tank, compared with that Decomposed feels like a small car. I have been thinking it over a lot, to give them 6 or 7 devils… I chose for six, but 6 and a half would be more correct.

All in all, not a bad album, but for me it just doesn’t have the X-factor.

Tracklist:

01. By Nothingness Crowned
02. Upheaval
03. VOID
04. Submerged
05. Downwards
06. Drenched In Wounds
07. Wither
08. Into Nothing

Playing time: 36:00

Release date: 3 October 2016

Label: Chaos Records

Website: www.facebook.com/decomposed-184061241645341

About Reinier de Vries 188 Articles

Once a metal head, always a metalhead. My parents thought it would only be a period, but they were wrong. I quit to explain the beauty of metal music to others that are not into metal, because it is something you can't tell in words... It is like explaining to a teetotaller why a cold beer is so nice on a hot day... I started with bands like Accept, Metal Church, Iron Maiden and Metallica in the eighties and I think I will still listen to them when I'm stone deaf and old...