Decapitated – The Negation

[Russell]

Decapitated – The Negation
Earache – MOSH 274CD – 09.02.04
By Anna Novitzky

If there’s one thing you can’t accuse Decapitated of, it’s being quiet. So I knew it was a mistake to put The Negation on at high volume on a Sunday morning. My intuition was proved correct when I was inundated with complaints from everyone in my building, but by god it was satisfying.

Decapitated have long been hailed as the young saviours of death metal, and there isn’t an awful lot in The Negation to prove this wrong. As bleak and brutal as ever, it features all their traditional traits – guttural growling, ferocious guitars that cut like buzz-saws and speed-drumming that promises early arthritic wrists. They even manage to expand their repertoire – is that a hint of ethereal synthesised melancholy I hear on ‘Calling’? Why yes, Watson, I believe it is. Still, for the main part they stick to what they do best, and continue to do it damn well. While The Negation doesn’t display all the freshness and inventiveness of earlier releases, theirs is a sound that has matured. It isn’t, perhaps, as exciting as it once was, but it still satisfies in a way that few bands can match. The relentless drive of fury and injury-inducing morbid enthusiasm may cause your brain to implode or trickle out of your ears after a couple of hours on repeat, but surely that’s the point.

Official Decapitated Website
Official Earache Website

 

[Bleakest Harvest]

I'd like this band a lot more if Sauron's vocals weren't so boring. He just does the exact same growls grrr grr grrrrr' thing all the time. Give me Lord Worm any day! Musicianship is faultless though, and if it's that your after this is a good cd wih plenty of great riffs and better production than 'Nihility'.

 

[lurch70]

While The Negation doesn’t display all the freshness and inventiveness of earlier releases, theirs is a sound that has matured.

I agree that they matured in certain ways, and I am a huge Decapitated fan ... but this is simply a lazy release. Yes, things are a little more cohesive and they are still trying to find their voice, so to speak. But to me this is not Decapitated. Nihility is what represents them best ... A lazy release me thinks. These guys can do much better, especially since they had 2 guitarist for studio sessions this time.

There are 3 tracks on this that stand out, the rest are pedestrian songs that bored me after a few listens. They will definetelly get a wider audience with this release, as it is more accessible than the previous ones ... but it all smells a little premeditated.

 

[threak]

I agree that they matured in certain ways, and I am a huge Decapitated fan ... but this is simply a lazy release. Yes, things are a little more cohesive and they are still trying to find their voice, so to speak. But to me this is not Decapitated. Nihility is what represents them best ... A lazy release me thinks. These guys can do much better, especially since they had 2 guitarist for studio sessions this time.

There are 3 tracks on this that stand out, the rest are pedestrian songs that bored me after a few listens. They will definetelly get a wider audience with this release, as it is more accessible than the previous ones ... but it all smells a little premeditated.

listen to it some more,then come back and erase that stupid statement.

 

[Oceanic Motion]

Lazy??? What the fuck has you been smoking!?

This album smokes.

 

[lurch70]

i gave this record at least a dozen chances .... over a 3 week period.
enough said ... these guys can do so much better.

 

[Episteme]

Hmmm...I don't know. I like the album alot. I have their other album releases, Winds of Creation and Nihility. I like The Negation but something just seems to be missing...

Either way, I think it's still tops. The guitar solos are much more prominent and so is the bass. The drums sound abit better too. The riffs are awesome, less technical but friggin awesome. Brutal Death with groove.

 

[Bleakest Harvest]

Yah the production is excellent on the Negation, but Sauron's vocals and the general monotony of some of the songs get to me...

 

[Victim of Deception]

After a few listens, I've also come to the conclusion that the band is capable of something a bit more interesting. It's a very good album, but a bit too conservative, and not their best.

 

[Dr Psyklonic]

right.
i fucking love Winds Of Creation and Nihility with a passion... got The Negation and 'The Fury' and 'Lying And Weak' are songs that instantly appeal to you.

The rest of the songs are, well, some might call them a "progression" from some of the sounds on Nihility.

It's by no means at all shit, it's just they've pulled back slightly too much on the riffage, and concentrated more on making it OTT-brutal, with too many needless solos for my liking, than actually developing properly.

To try and put it into an equation, it sounds to me - in my opinion (so no arguing if you dont agree) - like classic Napalm Death, Dying Fetus and Morbid Angel thrown into a blender and having Decapitated add their signatures to it.

It strikes me as more of an attempt at an 'out-and-out death metal' record as opposed to the technical-brutal-groove of the previous 2 albums.

I'd still recommend it to anyone though, and im looking forward to Manchester on the 24th so...

 

[Krilons Resa]

right.
i fucking love Winds Of Creation and Nihility with a passion... got The Negation and 'The Fury' and 'Lying And Weak' are songs that instantly appeal to you.

The rest of the songs are, well, some might call them a "progression" from some of the sounds on Nihility.

It's by no means at all shit, it's just they've pulled back slightly too much on the riffage, and concentrated more on making it OTT-brutal, with too many needless solos for my liking, than actually developing properly.

To try and put it into an equation, it sounds to me - in my opinion (so no arguing if you dont agree) - like classic Napalm Death, Dying Fetus and Morbid Angel thrown into a blender and having Decapitated add their signatures to it.

It strikes me as more of an attempt at an 'out-and-out death metal' record as opposed to the technical-brutal-groove of the previous 2 albums.

I'd still recommend it to anyone though, and im looking forward to Manchester on the 24th so...

Agreed.

 

[Nihilistic Clarity]

The only problems I had with this album are that I thought Sauron's vocals were more of a monotonous bark than the growl found on the previous albums. Also, I found that the instrumental in the middle breaks the pace of the album. But other than those issues, I thought this album was a great blend of fury and musicianship.

 

[SculptedCold]

I liked it at first but hindsight and comparison between the other two albums force me to agree with those who say this is simply a lazy release. Barely anything remarkable about it asides from the generic and useless 'Brutal! and Smokes!' comments.

 

[Razorjack]

This album is great (both studio and Live), however I find it hard to see where the band will go from here without completely changing their approach to writing music.