With the name of this album, I was actually kind of expecting a covers album. I was a little surprised to see mostly new material, other than a cover of Mercyful Fate's classic "Black Funeral". Unfortunately that is not a terribly impressive version of the song. If you are going to cover Mercyful Fate, it better damn well be good. The vocals are delivered in a much more typical black metal shriek, with the exception of some falsetto backing vocals. And the change in vocal style just kind of ruins it. It is an ambitious song to cover anyway and the band is just not quite up to the task.
The rest of the album is impressive as always. Decayed definitely do not reinvent the wheel. They just do what they do best: craft hateful and dark black metal with some thrashy-sounding riffs. The production leaves a little to be desired on this release. It is just a little too murky. None of the other albums I have heard have this issue. This album is a bit doomier than some of their other releases, with a few more slower, more deliberate tracks, particularly in the first few songs. They can still bring the speed on some tracks though, such as on "Hail Sathanas". Other highlights include "At the Strike of Midnight", one of the best songs I have heard from the band. It sounds like a lost Deströyer 666 song.
Decayed is an interesting band to follow. I like bands who put out a lot of releases and Decayed is probably second or third on my list of favorites (Fetid Zombie and Drowning the Light are the challengers). This is yet another great album by the band, though the Mercyful Fate cover was a mistake. One of these days I will have to rank the albums. Maybe once I add a few more.
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