Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Decadence Chargepoint Company: Spiritual Beast Release: 2009 Genre: Thrash Reviewer: Hail and Kill

Thrashing with impassioned relish

Decadence are the nastiest thrash quartet to emerge from Sweden in recent years; with their sound rooted in the genre's Teutonic school, these Swedes go about the business of thrashing with impassioned relish. Think Destruction meets Holy Moses and fancy axework (that's the fault of one Kenneth Lantz, who co-produced this album). Eschewing boring intros and any ‘cinematic' feel whatsoever, the opening salvo "Discharge" is introduced by a noodly lick and then proceeds to kick unholy ass. Never stuck to the old' school, growly female death metal vocals from Kitty Saric layer the frenetic tempo of this deadly first strike (Testament pun).

The following beefcakes "Silent Weapon (For A Quiet War)" and "Out of Ashes" are exercises in far more sophisticated composition. It's at "Point of No Return" however, that the band's melodic sensibilities come into focus. When they want to, Decadence can peddle the speed like the best In Flames or Gamma Ray. Midway through the album, the refreshing energy that has driven the masterful tunes so far starts to run out and the listener risks getting tired of the endless barrage of riffs and one-dimensional drumming from Erik Rojas. Things pick up for "Challenge," which is the best song on "Chargepoint" with its grinding heaviness and strong chorus. The impassioned "Be Home When I'm Gone" blazes away as the band let loose their last full song in record time before the instrumental closer "The Demons Run" arrives.

As "Chargepoint" wraps, gentle acoustic guitars set the mood for a boring dirge that sees the curtains fall on this ugly little opus. "Chargepoint" might not be the best in the market today, but Decadence are certainly growing as musicians. Come 2011, these guys just might have a new record that REALLY gets everyone's attention.