Echoes of Decimation

Three years after Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas, Echoes of Decimation has delivered a higher realm of the brutality the band possesses. Along with the sheer technical abilities, the band displays expertise in godly gravity blasts beats, unequivocal bass, explosive guitar solos and sweeps, and variable death growls and shrieks. Then there’s that evil motherfucker in the album cover surrounded by interstellar clouds; hinting the return to the space-themed artworks, but with character and consciousness.

However, this record feels brief as an LP. The first half contains songs below 2:30 minutes, which is quite disappointing, as if the band didn’t want to polish or create more substance. I’d like their music to be long (3+ minutes), memorable and substantial, not short and forgettable. While most songs failed to deliver, they still had their unique moments I encountered, like the opening song’s breakdown before the end; sounds like a Suffocation type of breakdown with the shredded guitar sweeps.

Staring from the Abyss, the second-longest song is overall the best song on the record, given its song structure and immersed brutality. What helped succeed that song’s greatness was the one right after. Amoeba is a great technical song that shifted to heavy bass lines and fast drumming. Even the insane amount of palm-muting riff after riff is somewhat commendable, to the otherwise insane amount of guitar sweeps throughout the entire record. So this is the one gem out of all the five short songs I appreciated.

This monstrosity that is Echoes of Decimation is a true predecessor to the sound that Antithesis later made so remarkable. It’s not an awful record, but I just wished it was longer enough; the songs’ length having more substance and memorable sound, instead of being so rushed (sounds like an oxymoron in terms of technical death metal...) Pretty obvious what the best songs are, but I would also say Cloning the Stillborn and the title track in some bits showcase potential.