DEATH DECLINE: The Silent Path (DEATH METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Death Decline had surprised with its old school music, harsh and devastating in a record ("The Thousand Faces of Lies") that drew from the death panoply while incorporating multiple colors. The band comes back with "The Silent Path", an ultra violent path where the musicians deploy their talents of shadow builders. The record summons the souls of Benediction, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, while intensifying its power and violence.

The silent path is comparable to "Left Hand Path" as the guitars are powerful and the atmospheres terrifying. The original death paw is there: growling voices, powerful riffs and drums inherited from the Thrash. The record charms by the contrasts it offers, even if it seems monolithic. But it is this straightness which makes its strength and which is its essential quality. In the middle of burning tracks appear some airy moments, as if the distortions became too unbearable and that it was necessary to bring some dead times. These breaths come from the sharp, fast and melodic soli, which leave the dissonances for a while ('Above Their Weakness'), sometimes evoking Insomnium ('Threshold'). Finally, the clear vocal lines and the choirs of 'Threshold' bring another touch of novelty.

The strength of the record is in its coherence: the cover which answers to the ambiences, the sound interludes which link or introduce the tracks, the melodic orientation or the staggering arpeggios. In this respect, 'Through The Stranger's Eyes' is a model of composition, as it moves away from the low-key death fringe by uniting fury, spooky harmonies and a willingness to stretch the tracks to provide a progressive touch.

"The Silent Path" is a beautiful achievement, a solid and structured sound experience. The paradoxes of the record are its strength, as it is varied yet highly structured, the guitars roar while the stripped down arpeggios terrify, opaque and dotted with bright sparks. This silent path of noise and fury leads to a striking and deformed beauty, like the titanic idol on the cover. - Official website

DEATH DECLINE

THE SILENT PATH

M-O-MUSIC

DEATH METAL