Decadence- Chargepoint (Spiritual Beast)

There’s so much thrash out in the market these days, you just don’t know who to trust except for the smokin’ new Megadeth album. Fortunately there’s Decadence to shake up the genre a bit. While the overwhelming trend since late 2007 has been to revive the genre's 1980s heyday, given strong comebacks by originators Testament and Exodus, Decadence stand apart from your favourite Guillotine or Warbringer for two reasons: First, they’ve been thrashing long before it was fashionable to do so; second, theirs is a peculiar brand that incorporates a helluva lot of homegrown melo-death.

Hailing from Sweden and having a blonde goddess for a frontwoman (she also runs the band’s label and manages its day-to-day affairs—yeah, she’s empowered, just like Metal As Fuck’s girl boss), and known by the moniker Metallic Kitty, Decadence go about the thrash business with an ugly predilection for rugged growls and an avalanche of jagged riffs strung together by tasty hooks.

This here Chargepoint offers eight full songs, plus an instrumental that aspires to Olympian heights of awesomeness but only makes it halfway. Ignoring a couple of filler tracks, arse-whooping numbers predominate, packing the vitriol and pace to inspire a good-sized moshpit in a crowded pub—the ideal venue for the gritty thrash these blokes play.

Opener Discharge fits the mold like a condom on an erect phallus (now that was a rather disgusting comparison) and the succeeding material fares just as well. However, if there’s one problem plaguing these ambitious Swedes—besides Kitty, there’s Kenneth Latz on guitar, drummer Erik Rojas, and bass commando Joachim Antman—throughout their fourth magnum opus (its predecessor, Third Stage of Decay, enjoyed three separate releases) it’s the un-memorableness of the music. Sad but true.

Despite the endless barrage of jackhammer drums, smokin’ leads, and venomous snarls from a she-bitch from hell (where her hotness is suited), very little on Chargepoint would inspire a sing-along in the live setting because, well, you won’t remember the tunes here.

It’s quite terrible really, as this flaw puts so many of the infectious choruses on the album to waste. Though, this doesn’t mean audiences won’t be able to inflict violence while digging these guys. Tracks such as Challenge, Strength of Mind, and Point of No Return burn with righteous fury and toast your keyboard-riven favourites (here’s looking at Sonata Arctica) to cinders. This writer believes it’s high time you chargepointed to Amazon and buy the bloody album. Hahaha! Get it?

Decadence's Chargepoint is out now on Spiritual Beast Records.