Decease

Exhort to Obliterate

Written by: EW on 06/06/2013 23:02:31

"Exhort to Obliterate" is the debut album from Romanian thrashers Decease, a trio who operate at the extreme end of the thrash spectrum with this frantic 29-minute blast of extreme aggression. Besides the straight-ahead riffing technique which belies a unit without major expertise in their instruments is influence from the likes of Kreator and old Sepultura - similar song structures based around the standard thrash 4/4 intonations don't allow for much identity to be assumed but the belief is very much there in the likes of "Sadistic Enjoyment" (whether that is an enjoyment of thrashing I cannot confirm).

The coarse vocals of guitarist Radu Vulpe, who sounds like he has a sheet of sandpaper lodged in his throat, pitch the album closer to the death/thrash boundary than some of the more recognisable straight-up thrash acts of recent years, a fact I find pleasing following the over-saturation of the thrash scene in recent years. Furthermore the production sounds more like an advanced demo stage rather than professional studio work lending the album an altogether tougher vibe. Unusually for such a band the bass is distinctly audible, but the stale guitar tone under which it rests is a moot point - the lack of character in Vulpe's rhythm work is a major detractor for me although his flailing solos are at least a little more colourful.

Much of what would be required to mark this as a truly great thrash record is absent, not least a greater sense of melody and knack of writing more catchy vocal lines to lodge in the memory, but as seen in the burning heart in “Sadistic Enjoyment”, the rising solos of "Boiling Hatred" or the invigorating tempo of "Atrocious Deeds" there is recognisable power borne through evident passion.

4

Download: Sadistic Enjoyment, Atrocious Deeds
For The Fans Of: "Beneath the Remains" era Sepultura, Demolition Hammer
Listen: Facebook

Release date: 15.02.2013
Hatework Records

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