Decerebration – Follow The Scars
Release Date: 17th December 2021
Label: Self-Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Thrash, Death Metal.
FFO: Suffocation, Sepultura, Death, Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus.
Review By: Jordan Burton-Morris
Quebec City’s Decerebration has been offering up brutally slamming thrashy death metal since first forming in 1993. The band made their recording debut with the 1994 cassette LP Pure Hatred, which was soon followed by the 1995 EP MyInner Impurity and three years later with 1998’s self-titled full-length. During their 1990s assault on the Quebec death metal scene, they shared the stage with Dying Fetus, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Cynic, Incantation, Malevolent Creation, Kataklysm among many more.
Now after a twenty-year hiatus, Decerebration returns with a new tyranny to punish the eardrums of death metal fans. Entitled Follow The Scars, the new album is seven tracks (plus an intro and outro) of ferocious riffs, melodic guitar harmonies, and beastly growls.
So as mentioned, the album has an opener and closer, respectively titled Scorched Memories and L.T.E.I which bookend the album with a dramatic eerie feel, but also slow and more melodic in a way, one being heavier than the other.
Infamous Duality has a nice headbanging rhythm and strong bassline, A Ghost Of Flesh And Blood supports strong gutturals and a fast drum beat, the title track is supported by virtuosic drumming and clean vocals? Yes, clean vocals. That is the highlight of the album!
Break The Cycle has a lot of promise, the drums change the tempo a fair amount, not too much, but enough to keep you interested, The Factless Prophecy starts off like a death metal Jaws almost, before descending into possibly the best track on the album. The Gift Of Anger is very strong and melodic, with more clean vocals and a clean melodic section!
The albums longest track, I Despise, is the last track with vocals, and we are met with strong triplets on guitar and drums, and as usual, a strong bassline.
Overall, this album is fairly run-of-the-mill. I wouldn’t class it as trash (it’s definitely worth a listen) but it’s far from a lot of the killer death metal we’ve had in 2021. It does feel a little monotonous at times, and starts to drag as it goes on. Despite this, there are some good solid riffs in here, and the thick bass really lifts this album up a lot. The more hardcore fans of the band are probably more likely to enjoy this.
(3 / 5)
