Decrepid - Mausoleum Of The Forgotten

Self Released 2013

 

1.Asylumaniac 2.Indulgence In Self Destruction 3.Fear Within

 

London based old school death metallers returned in 2013 with a new three track demo after the 2011 album ‘Devoted To Death’. Their sound is definitely not for the feint-hearted, being ugly, grim, murky and morbid. Opener ‘Asylumaniac’ is quite a simple affair, thrashy death metal which definitely belongs in the early nineties. Being a demo, the song does have that ‘demo sound’ to it which was so prevalent back when it all began, mainly due to the analogue recordings back in the day. Not too sure if Decrepid are trying to re-create and pay homage to that era or whether they just haven’t spent too much time or money in the studio, it’s hard to tell. ‘Indulgence In Self Destruction’ mixes things up a little more, tempos are varied more often, from the all-out sludge laden doom sections through to the faster, more frantic passages which work well and add variety to the band’s sound. As with the opener, the sound and song structure are very simple. If the band are going for that early nineties old school sound, then the guitars should really pack more punch, as they sound a little weak and at the back of the mix. Again, not sure if this was intentional or not!

‘Fear Within’ closes this short demo and is probably the strongest track of all three, sounding altogether better composed and structured and a lot catchier than the previous two songs. Decrepid seem to have a sharper edge when they up the pace, the slower passages somehow seem to fall a little flat which is a shame. However, the vocal delivery is excellent, especially the main death metal gutturals, really standing out and adding extra grimness to the sound. Assumptions can be a dangerous thing, but from this three track demo I can only assume that the band didn’t spend too much time worrying about the production, which really lets the songs down. Yes, it’s only a demo, and yes the band are old school death metal at heart, but in today's over saturated underground, to gain any real attention a little more effort needs to be indulged on your releases, even if they are only demo tracks. Maybe I’ve missed the point, and the lo-fi production was intended, but for heavy old school death metal, its way off the mark. If you love your death metal that is stuck in the early nineties and sounds like it’s been copied from tape to tape a thousand times, then this will be right up your street. If you prefer your old school death metal with a bit more rotting flesh on its rancid corpse, then you might want to pass on this one. Check it out, but don’t expect to be taken by surprise.

 

6 Out of 10

 

Band Page: Here