He Who Invokes Decadence

September Murder were strongly recommended to me over the summer, and despite retaining nomenclature that oozes something closer to metalcore pandering, that isn't necessarily what lurks within He Who Invokes Decadence. I went into this expecting relatively standard fare, although one glance at the track lengths should have convinced me otherwise. September Murder are certainly a melodic death metal act first and foremost, but they interject a fair bit of verisimilitude into their sound courtesy of relatively audacious and enterprising song structures and proclivity for progressive tendencies. Plenty of memorable riffs call He Who Invokes Decadence home, and most contain just enough of that thrashy grit to complement the (arguably undersold) melodic element. The excessively protracted nature of many of these tracks can make it an exhausting listen at times, and while September Murder certainly aren't going to win any contests concerning ability to get to the point, they at least make it fairly easy to remain invested throughout.

The metalcore comparison is something I see repeatedly brought up. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with these Germans in isolation, mind you; more that there are many metalcore/deathcore bands working with aesthetics very close to this band's style. There are a few inhaled gutturals to draw some parallels, but Schacke's primary armament revolves around a comparatively powerful death metal roar that doesn't come off as forced or simpering like so many other bands in this field. It is a reasonable approximation to state that September Murder draw a lot of influence from Death's later output, particularly The Sound of Perseverance. If you are a fan of that record along with Symbolic, He Who Invokes Decadence sound flip many of the right switches to your ears. Obviously this is considerably progressive and ambitious in context, but it certainly doesn't come off as pretentious either. As idiosyncratic and arbitrary as structure may become, the band never fully ejects their ability to level the field with an asphalt-spitting, straight-up death metal interval. That isn't to say there aren't moodier deviations, as there are quite a few sections that espouse classical guitars bookended by flaying melodic death exercises.

It is a nice mix, and doesn't come off like the band is just tacking sections together for the hell of it. He Who Invokes Decadence actually gets quite fucking heavy at times, and "In Celebration of Mankind's Wretchedness" is a fair approximation of pseudo-technical death metal done fairly well. Riffs are considerably sepulchral and thrashy overall, and coexist pretty well with the droning passages and clinical leads. To touch on the leadwork, it is controlled, delicate and lethal in moderation. Lots of finger-tapping conjoined with the eventual melodic tail, and it ends up being a comfortable amalgam when all is said and done. Frank is very capable behind the kit too, which simply rounds out what is already a pretty stellar cast. There are so many bands loitering around this style, it is a breath of fresh air to find an act that tries to push the boundaries a bit on the way to their own unique take on the style.

I admit to not having a consistent pining for progressive death metal (especially of the modern variety), but September Murder just works for me. The triggered drums can be a bit too much to handle at times, but otherwise this record is sonically soft as butter and easy to indulge in given the mood. I would suggest that the band tone down the acoustic sections a bit in the future, as they sort of disrupt the flow of the record, which up to certain points begins to build up quite a bit of borderline-polyrhythmic velocity. This is their best album so far, and can be listened to on Bandcamp free of charge, so give these guys a whirl if you are looking for something arguably different.