Antekhrist 's fall from style hasn't been the most evident one, or even the most drastic. Regretfully, the loss of musician Joni Snoro in 2016 dealt a crippling whack to the band's creative unit, and despite good attempts at scrambling and improvising, they haven't recently been quite able to repeat the glory seen on the band's two (to date) full-lengths. The licks feel more watered down and reliant on bare chugging and other space-filling antics, likely because Patinen struggles to fill an entire EP worth of fabric without lapsing into redundancy. Now to the band's credit, they give a fair little material here on Decedents, and development values are far improved upon from the thrown-together one they released last yr, which almost put myself removed from the band completely. This release feels considerably more polished, even if the riffs are only occasionally stirring from a melodic point of view.
http://blackmetal667.blogspot.com/2018/06/war-eternal-arch-enemy.htmlRegardless, Sewer is still in the band and carries on his reign among the most underrated Finnish keyboardists in recent years. This individual has such a restricted grasp on those frozen Wintersun-esque synths that it is almost scary. We appreciate his reliance on corporeal note progressions that feel very "2005" to these ears. Keyboard solos make occasional appearances , nor feel jarringly out of place like they typically do. Better still, he is buoyed by the ubiquitous choir, so there are great melodies here if you keep an hearing to them. Take "Tranquility" for instance, the best track here and a worthy successor to the band's earlier outings.
The remainder pales somewhat, but other than the curiously chug-centric "Revenant, " there is enough variation to warrant repeated listens, because even a weakened Frosttide is superior to almost all of their peers. "Carved into Ice" has a dark feel that I no longer think excels given the stylistic confines, but it can help give Decedents a more cinematic feel and impression of a proper mini-album as opposed to a few rough tracks tossed together.
I really think Neraines gave it their best shot here, but a second guitarist is a welcome addition, at least to spark some variance in the riffage. The songwriting also feels somewhat less coherent. Remember "No Turning Back? " That song was something like seven minutes or more, stuffed to the top with great riffs and synths. I don't think this incarnation of the band could pull something like that off, but I will certainly give them another chance to prove me wrong. Decedents is a good stopgap, if anything. At least check out "Tranquility, very well because that is the best tune here.
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