A couple of months ago, I was grousing about the all-too-frequent occurence of the postapocalyptic cityscape/skyline artwork. And bam, here we are again. The small but possibly key difference with last time is this: Fallen Decade self-released their album. As the proverb sort of goes: don't judge a CD by its cover, and I'd rather have a band spend their budget on studio time than on a better artist.
And from the sound of it, the guys probably thought of that idea themselves. "Under No God" retains an underground charm through its production, even though it's overall quite bright and crisp. Style-wise, Fallen Decade stands for a thrashy assault; it feels like warfare fought the old school way, but with modern weaponry. The band covers a vast amount of territory within the boundaries of thrash and its neighbours: everything's right there for the taking, from chopped up beats over thudding double kick snarls to groovy jamming. None of the tracks are snappy enough to be called agressive, but they all border on the line between assertiveness and vivacity. Confidence is the word: the songs don't plead for approval, they're there for those who want to enjoy - those who don't can shove it. The vocals deserve credit for their energizing contribution, the instrumental section takes care of everything else, of which the leads get an honourable mention.
Fallen Decade spews forth a screamy, thrashy slab of metal, which has gotten every necessary element in just the right spot. Consequently, "Under No God" is an album that stands sure-footed because of its own merits. Surely these lads should (be able to) find a label for their next release, especially with this debut being great publicity.
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AUTHOR: Goran
Goran has been an active reviewer for years (since the old Fishcomcollective, to the brand new Corazine - and also for Face Your Underground). He enjoys - besides metal - the creative side of life, be it through music, sports, programming or 3D. You can find him at www.myspace.com/fdemets.