Band: DECAYED
Country: Portugal
Title: Dark Pagan Ritual
Label: Iron Blood Death Corp.
Year: 2017
Style: Black Metal
Review:
The legendary and unrelenting Portuguese masters of Black Metal, Decayed, are marking yet another release in their impressive catalogue, although this is actually a re-release of a compilation, first out on CDR and now on factory pressed CD. The tracks are taken from the band's split with Darkness, Unholy Sacrifice from 2007 and from a compilation of unreleased material titled Under Hecate's Spell released the same year. If you know the band's work it's pretty clear what you'll find here, and if you don't you should know Decayed's Black Metal is fast, furious, unpolished, raw and putrid, emanating an asphyxiating stench of death. I wouldn't say their compositions are technically complex or challenging, but that's compensated with hate and disgust; repetitive, simple harmonies that stick to your mind, especially on tracks like Six Six Six, a constantly oppressive atmosphere emphasized by subtle keyboards in the background, and evil hoarse vocals, but unfortunately that's not matched in the drums section, the programmings they use are annoying at times, way too synthetic for this raw, aggressive music in my opinion. Anyway, an enjoyable "new" experience from Decayed that probably announces a new, twelfth, full-length album for sometime soon.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: -/10