Ashen Horde - Decayed

#PER CHI AMA: Death/Black

'Decayed' è il nuovo 10" dei californiani Ashen Horde, una band che avevamo già incontrato in occasione del loro album 'Nine Plagues' e che poi non abbiamo mantenuto nei nostri radar. La band di Los Angeles torna con queste tre nuove song a celebrare i 10 anni dal debutto, più la ri-registrazione - niente di clamorosamente differente dall'originale - di "Baited Breath", estratta proprio da 'Sanguinum Vindicta', con la versione in cd che include peraltro ben 12 bonus track, provenienti dagli scarti dei precedenti dischi. Ebbene, le nuove tracce incluse sono un manifesto dell'ostica proposta dell'ensemble a stelle e strisce, essendo infatti promotori di un black death ringhiante che ha poco di originale da proporre. Tra le cose che potrei segnalare, lungo le quattro song in mio possesso, c'è un utilizzo alquanto stravagante del cantato pulito, che si affianca qua e là, a quello più tipicamente stridulo del frontman statunitense. La musica poi, sin dall'iniziale "A Portent Among the Debris" e a seguire con "The Reaping", dicevo, è un concentrato di affilato death black con chitarre un po' sghembe, furiosi blast-beat e qualche apertura progressive - soprattutto in "Euphoric Lament" - che potrebbe evocare gli Enslaved, anche se la band norvegese è di tutt'altra caratura. Ecco che ora mi spiego il motivo per cui non siamo mai stati fan accaniti della band statunitense, onesti mestieranti e poco più. (Francesco Scarci)

(Self - 2024)
Voto: 62

https://ashenhorde.bandcamp.com/album/decayed

Decayed - The Burning of Heaven

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Death

Reveling in the black metal sound that typified the extremity of the early '90s, Decayed is one of Portugal's early adopters of the intense esoteric style and has run with it for decades. Having released eleven full-length albums by the debut of 'The Burning of Heaven' as well as numerous demos, splits, EPs, and compilations, the trio has been a prolific – albeit marginal and overlooked – member of the scene since 1990.

After a short prologue, the title track storms out the gate with the untamed fury that only heavy metal can bring. Shrieking guitar solos and throats ripping from agonized screams, a harsh atmosphere of raw resonance as the pitter-patter of double bass falls like rain below a hail of cymbal strikes, Decayed brings Armageddon and it is none too discomforting even through a crushing change of pace halfway into this eleven minute thrashing. Instead, Armageddon is a party as Heaven burns and the slaughter is merely the sick game in which Decayed is enthralled. Punishing that petulant paradise with perdition's passionate press, armies of angels melt under the crush of demonic weight like so many damned souls plunged into the lake of fire. Revenge is here for the dark deity and it comes in sweeps and blasts as this absolute monster of a title track tears through.

Much of the album flies by like winged demons farting fire, distant screams become a chorus of horror descending upon cities, rending stereocilia from inner ears, and melting the membranes of eyes. The shrill “Son of Satan” hails the newborn Antichrist with its unambiguous and direct victuals of Satanic allegiance before the mystical prognostications of “Dark Soul - The Prophecy” begin the march to a universal war that makes all historical human horrors seem like skirmishes in scale. The chaotic onslaught of “War of the Gods”, the heaving weight of “Defy Thy Master”, and the liberal use of crisp cymbal crashes throughout “The Mirror of Usire” furiously wrap up the main album while a second segment comes to the fore.

As if the depravity of the underworld and the genocide of a realm of righteous supernatural beings wasn't enough, 'The Burning of Heaven' comes with an added EP hailing the 'Night of Demons' with its own coven of horny witches starting the show. Covering Motorhead in “Deaf Forever” and following it up with a shift into “Cravado Na Cruz” that again joins the chorus of songs reveling in an inverted revelation and wreaking havoc with genuine glee, Decayed refuses to let up as it peppers bits of campy fun into its frenetic standard. Unlike many a modern black metal band reveling in melancholy and lamenting the task of turning terror and torture into a fresh tome, Decayed ensures that the wickedness of a smile on one's face is the last thing many a weeping angel may see as it serenades unholy hosts with such unrepentant and charming madness. (Five_Nails)

(Helldprod Records - 2016)
Score: 75

https://decayed666.bandcamp.com/album/the-burning-of-heaven