“Decline” is the debut album from the Spanish band Melanism. The opening track, Loom, is instrumental which makes a very nice bridge to which I considered the best track: Omnimsomnia that presents everything the band came for. In a metal world where it seems to allow only two kinds of singers (the classical and the gutural), a singer with a clean and thick voice is a whiff of fresh air.
“Decline” shows clearly that Melanism had a lot of influences specially from bands like Soilwork. Take a look at Shoreline to see what I mean. That technique of repeating guitars riffs in the music creates an atmosphere of confusion and despair and also does the doubled guitars phrases. That’s pretty much the idea. In a good way, it can make you figure how Evanescence could be with a male voice.
The guitar textures help creating that dark atmosphere as they blend piano and keyboard sounds to bring out heavier lines. That’s where the band rises their modern metal influences. The metal world is changing, and “Decline” shows it clearly in a good way. As most spanish bands, Melanism has a sharp and tough critical vein. Mass Production is a track that features the band’s social crititic. It’s a cry out against modern society and its standardized models. Impossibile to be more modern than that!
My guess is that Melanism could be easily appreciated by an old school metalhead with an open mind.
The art work is very creative. It’s a free interpretation of the band from the weel-known Justice image as it’s dark and intends to show that Justice is fairly partial. In short, you’re dead!
You can purchase the album at Bandcamp. You can hear Drops below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-Wv92J9nk
Track listing:
- Loom
- Omnimsomnia
- Oligarchs
- Red Giant
- Shoreline
- Drops
- Mass Production
- Suffering
- Acceptance
