Label: Self released

Date: October 31st, 2020

This cannot be serious… Must be a parody… Or some weird “let’s get together and have a good time” kind of weekend project for a bunch of horror infatuated individuals.

I mean, just look at the band’s name… Okay, the release date fits to the topic, but other than that, I’m quite certain this is not meant to be anything more than an occasional gathering of like-minded people. Perhaps at the beginning, fifteen years ago, when they released two full length albums. After that, there’s only been a bunch of EPs, one compilation and a DVD. “Devoured in Decay” is the last in the EP line and here’s what you get out of it.

Four tracks dedicated to selected, age old, horror classics. But you could’ve deduced that from the very moniker of the band.

Musically, the US based horror aficionados bring along a fairly homogenous mish-mash of genres. Almost grinding brutal death metal, in cooperation with more of a gothic line of melodic black metal and some thrashing traces on occasion. Couple all of that with the atmospheric wrapper I can only associate with Swedish gothic legends Notre Dame.

Another thing to note are the programmed drums. Though they fit nicely to the entire pack and are skillfully crafted, they still add a bit of a supernatural undertone to “Devoured in Decay”. Hence the horror layers are complete and present in full.

Now, even if all of the above mentioned might sound as if the band is out of focus and fail to find a strong footing, the actual situation is much better.

As I wrote already, the album remains a homogenous whole. Though incredibly difficult to place it within a definite stylistic drawer, the impression is of a band that uses whatever is handy for the purpose of creating what they find necessary to express themselves and get the idea through to the listener.

Now, to call “Devoured in Decay” a success on the field of horror soundtrack would be wrong. I could probably mention a number of records that are more successful with horror influenced metal music. However, this EP is a decent rendition nonetheless. Especially if I was right about the band being a weekend side-project for its members.