Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 02/05/2008
For metalheads, the 2000s will no doubt go down in history as a time in which Europe dominated
death metal,
black metal,
gothic metal, and the
power metal revival/
prog-metal scene while the United States dominated metalcore and
screamo. But that isn't to say that American tastes and European tastes cannot intersect; there are European bands that have been influenced by metalcore, and there are American bands that have been affected the Nordic
death metal/
black metal scene.
Winds of Plague falls into the latter category. This
extreme metal band is from Southern California, and one hears a blend of American and European influences on
Decimate the Weak, a 2008 release that brings together metalcore,
death metal, and
black metal elements. Lead singer
Johnny Plague favors two different extreme vocal styles on this 36-minute CD, fluctuating between a metalcore/
hardcore scream and
death metal's deep, guttural "Cookie Monster" growl.
Plague goes back and forth between the two a lot, and he has no problem making it sound like a metalcore singer and a
death metal singer are performing a duet.
Plague doesn't really get into any
black metal-style vocals (that is, a sinister rasp), but the
black metal influence on
Decimate the Weak asserts itself in the form of blastbeats and ominous harmonies. This is an album that, for all its vicious, head-kicking ferocity, is not without nuance and not without a sense of melody. In fact, some of the guitar playing hints at old-school
power metal.
Decimate the Weak is mildly inconsistent, but all things considered, it is a decent example of metalcore,
death metal, and
black metal elements coming together under the
extreme metal umbrella.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
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Number of reviews: 1
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Christ
from Burlington, WA
Amazingly Ambient Record
For "Winds", this album goes places never before explored by the band. It was produced by the same guy who does the As I Lay Dying Cd's, and the sound is similar too it because of this. With an almost constant Double-bass pattern throughout most of the titles, 20th century metalheads have nothing to hate. An amazing album.
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