Decaptacon – For Those Who Died
Release Date: 15th July 2022
Label: Self-Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
FFO: Omnium Gatherum, Amon Amarth, Insomnium, In Flames.
Review By: Paul Cairney
If you are to listen to 1 Melodic Death Metal album this year, you should make it For Those Who Died, the 2nd album from German band Decaptacon.
Normally, it would be a generic review that would end with this, rather beige, statement. However, Decaptacon deserve to have this album pushed to the max, even with uninspired statements such as the opening sentence, as For Those Who Died is an album that is very much inspired.
The opening track, ‘Buried Alive’, is an 8-minute-long skull crushing behemoth of a track. Many albums do struggle to recover when an absolute banger opens the album, and as the song progresses, you do have a bit of fear that the remaining tracks will fade into melodic riffed obscurity. Decaptacon obviously laugh in the face of fear, as there is no notable drop-off in standard throughout the remaining 11 tracks.
With a handful of line-up changes, For Those Who Died is a step up from their debut, something that is definitely influenced by the new vocalist, Joshua Dominik. For those of you who listen to the digital version of the album, or those who hopefully buy the CD, For Those Who Died includes 2 bonus tracks, both of which are taken from the debut album.
Both of these songs, ‘Decaptacon’ and ‘Blackened Skies,’ sound heavier on the new album. Dominik’s vocals are less abrasive than his predecessor, more suitable to the melodic riffage provided by the bands 3 guitarists. Yes! 3 guitarists, Decaptacon are bona-fide riff machine!
The most impressive aspect of the album is that it grows and improves with each listen. I listened to the album this morning in preparation for this review. Mistakenly, I pressed play again once the dying refrain of ‘Blackened Skies’ drifted away. As the excellent opening track flooded into my ear canal, my immediate thought was, ‘fuck it’, as I listened to the album for yet another time. It warrants and deserves repeat listens!
The only real issue with For Those Who Died is the running time, and even that is a bit petty, as we are provided with 2 bonus tracks and an instrumental that is not on the vinyl release. It is over an hour long. It doesn’t really need the bonus tracks at all, and it would still be an excellent album with the remaining 9 tracks. On more than 1 occasion, I was unable to finish the full album on a single listen, purely due to the running time, but as I say, this is churlish to say the least.
So, if you are to listen to 1 Melodic Death Metal album this year….. oh wait, I’ve said that already.
(4.5 / 5)
