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Decrepit Birth: Diminishing between worlds

05/03/08 || The Duff

The more I come to appreciate old, classic death metal, the more insignificant bands trying to advance the sub-genre appear to be. That said, Decapitated are still my favourite band, and “Epitaph” and “Noctambulant”, released by Necrophagist and Spawn of Possession respectively, are in my top ten of all time; both bands are in the trade of excelling within the death metal realm, and so whatever they’ve yet to release is anticipated with fervor. That said, they seem to take for fucken ever to release something new, and so when I hear some taster tracks (namely “Dimensions Intertwine” and “Gathering of Imaginations”) that indicate something likely to appease my longing for fiddly tech death, I get hard and begin to salivate profusely until the release date. To think that the band putting me in such a state of mind is Decrepit Birth is surprising to say the least, as their debut was an unmoving affair. Now that I finally have a copy of “Diminishing Between Worlds”, I can’t say my opinion on the band is radically changed, but this disc still just about delivered what I asked of it, even though overall I would consider it a disappointment.

There’s lots to dislike on “Diminishing Between Worlds”; not much of it is entirely memorable, meaning many a sit-through before things take on any recognizable form. A chief reason for this is that, as stated by the band during the writing phase, “Diminishing Between Worlds” is very melodic, and consequently I’m frequently asking why a heavy riff doesn’t break through the flurries n’ fancy shit as much as it should. To make matters worse, about one quarter of the album is Sotelo shredding, combining a sickly tone with unimaginative phrasing that makes the album unnecessarily drab and unbelievably repetitive – most tracks could have been cut down and lost nothing in the process.

I’m somewhat unenthusiastic to the production (I think I even prefer the MySpace tracks), thinking it indecisive as to whether it wants to be warm or vicious (the drums sound great, though), with at times leads being buried and the overall sound dulled to a degree that would suggest mixing performed by someone either wishing to try something revolutionary or simply not knowing his way around the art. Finally, I get the impression that KC Howard’s skills have been morphed to fit this project devised by Sotelo – his own touch doesn’t seem all too predominant, as though he already had a drum-track made up from which to formulate his own playing.

The vocals aren’t so hot on “Diminishing Between Worlds”; someone far more guttural should have been hired, as Bill Robinson sounds too stressed on disc, even with his vocals having been so well and truly over-produced. Finally, the album could be criticized for being too melodic – I know there’s the threat of being branded closed-minded by those who thrust their two-and-a-half inch members through the metaphorical pillows of progression, but as much as Decrepit Birth’s earlier work offered nothing worthwhile to the death metal underground, there is a vast departure from the most brutal sound once epitomizing their music, and even I’m left thinking why the fuck I bought this, considering other bands have covered such ground far more convincingly (but then my hopes for this disc were outrageously high). The “heavier” riffs have all been written before, transparently so, so if you aren’t into pussified metal with the odd heavy riff that has been around for at least a couple of decades and rehashed into death-metal-riff-cliché-dom (near France…), don’t take a step further into purchasing “Diminishing Between Worlds”.

Now on to what makes this album a very solid technical death metal album – KC Howard’s drumming, which is phenomenal; there are indeed triggers used, but in no way do these take away from the man’s performance. The guitars are very impressive too -Sotelo seems to have stop-start riffing down about as well as can be, and the melodic leads are often very interesting. Although the riffs seem cut-and-paste, I’m supposing that this is the Decrepit Birth way if the re-recording (re-mixing? Re-mastering?) of “… And Time Begins” (off of their debut, “… And Time Begins” – ta-da) is anything to go by – in the end, it is a good thing that there’s some melody on this disc, because I don’t reckon a good production saves the material as that constituting the band’s debut; although remarkably technical, making out this kinda stuff through a more than muffled production would be a nightmare, and something that has put me off buying their debut and “giving it another chance” completely.

In the end, people are claiming this to be taking death metal forward, and I just don’t see it. Influences are all the obvious: Cynic, Atheist, Morbid Angel, Deicide, and check out “Essence of Creation” for a commendable homage to the great Chuck Schuldiner – it’s practically a Death tribute song done the Decrepit Birth way; then there’s some newer bands that have clearly helped steer Sotello away from his usual brutal standards, such as Necrophagist and such. A solid effort, but not something that makes these guys stand out from the crowd that much more, if at all (I believe there debut is quite the respected, underground classic); the musicianship is beyond exemplary, but the songwriting not so great, yet when the album does click, it can bare some pleasant rewards.

Artwork by Dan Seagrave is never a bad thing either.

7 high expectations that affected my judgment out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Unique Leader Records
Website: Official Site
Band
Bill Robinson: vocals
Matt Sotelo: guitars
Negatium Corporis: bass
KC Howard: drums

Tracklist
01. Living Doorway
02. Reflection of Emotions
03. Diminishing Between Worlds
04. Dimensions Intertwine
05. Enigmatic Form
06. Gathering of Imaginations
07. Through Alchemy Bound Eternal
08. ...and Time Begins
09. Await the Unending
10. Essence of Creation
11. Morpheus Oracle (Outro)

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