Decoryah: Fall-Dark Waters (1996)

Back when I was in high school or early college, I don't remember which, I picked up a Metal Blade sampler CD at a used music store.  I was not familiar with many of the bands on it, though I had heard of a few, but I viewed it as a way to discover some new music.  Back in the late 90's, there were not too many ways to really do that as a metalhead.  That CD led to me checking out groups like Mercyful Fate, Immolation, Desultory and Crisis.  But late in the compilation came a track by a group called Decoryah, whose song "Fall-Dark Waters" quickly became the highlight of the release for me.  It was atmospheric and mesmerizing, and its lack of aggression made it stand out from the rest of the album.  I filed the name of the band away, figuring I would check them out eventually.  But for a long time, I never got around to it.

Until now.

It is kind of hard to describe this album.  It is unlike virtually anything else I have heard.  It is also tough to express what my expectations were for it, given the unusual nature of the title track.  Metal Archives has the band listed as "gothic metal", and I guess if I HAD to place it in a genre, that would be the one to pick, but it is overly simplistic.  I do not think it has much in common with many groups often lumped into the gothic metal category.  If I had to pick the closest comparison, it would be Tiamat's A Deeper Kind of Slumber, but I like this one much better than that one. 

There is very little structure present here, the sounds seem to flow freely from one to the other without any real rhyme or reason.  Many of the song titles reference water in some way, and that seems very appropriate because listening to the album is almost like floating down a calm river without much in the way of a real direction or destination in mind.  There are a lot of strange elements thrown out along the way, such as crooning, female vocals, keyboard noodling and occasional oddball instruments like flutes.  It is often trippy and one never knows what to expect next, even after repeated listens.

Despite the unusual nature of this release, I quite like it.  It is incredibly soothing and calming, unlike virtually anything else in my music collection.  It is a good album to listen to to relax and just drift off.