Above & Below – Suffer. Decay. Alone.
Release Date: 10th June 2022
Label: Disorder Recordings
Bandcamp
Genre: Industrial, Nu-Metal, Post-Black Metal.
FFO: Korn, Throbbing Gristle, Thorns.
Review By: David Oberlin
Suffer Decay Alone is an interesting premise from Bryce Seditz, aka the vox/guitarist of Ohio based Plagueweilder. In Seditz own words, it is an album “about intrusive thoughts and failed relationships” with “a feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness.” So– a study of self-indulgence and self-pity, in E. While the mood might not be the most grand of tragedies, the music behind the mask is riveting at least.
Inspired by early Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and Skold Seditz set out to make an Industrial record and successfully crafted a unique entry into the ever expanding genre. Those influences are not the first acts that come to mind when listening to the album, however. The strange mix of candid ambiance manipulated and overdriven into a score for a worried mind brings Throbbing Gristle to mind in parts. Suffer Decay Alone is heavier than it proposes to be.
There is more rhythm and bass here than what you would expect from a clusterfuck of synths, effects and samples. In a similar vein, the vocals rap like the Tommyknockers, knocking at the door. A style that has seen a massive increase in adoption throughout the alternative scene. Nu-metal has a lot to answer for. With this album sounding like the prototype for a new branch of the genre. Above & Below would then seem like a cheeky nod to what Seditz is himself inspiring, a resurgence of genre contamination.
The debut album from Above & Below attempts to show its influences on its sleeve. By successfully starting off as a full-on industrial outfit with hip-hop inclinations, mostly in the delivery of the vox. Yet, it delves into familiar territory for Seditz about the midway mark, where the creature comfort of tremolo picked riffs mixed in with grandiose dirty bass rears its primitive head.
(3 / 5)
