Ten Years Later: Decapitated's "The Negation"
- Geoff Teach
- Oct 17, 2014
- 3 min read
MID-MAJOR MAYHEM
By: Geoff Teach
2004 was a year of transition for heavy metal. Nu-metal was still writhing and wriggling, although it was also fast approaching its own mortality. Albums like Slipknot’s “Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)”, Cradle of Filth’s “Nymphetamine”, and Killswitch Engage’s “The End of Heartache” were some of the largest releases from some of the largest artists of that year, while other, lesser-known (at the time) acts such as Arsis (“A Celebration of Guilt”), Isis (“Panopticon”), and Lamb of God (“Ashes of the Wake”) were releasing some of their own seminal works. Great bands such as Threat Signal, Scale the Summit, and Abigail Williams were getting their starts, and in Poland, an up-and-coming death metal band signed to a subsidiary of Earache Records released its third studio album. On March 3rd, 2004, Decapitated, a Krasno-based quartet dedicated to blast beats and brutally technical death metal, released “The Negation”, and in doing so, helped define the sound of a burgeoning new subgenre. It is easy to listen to “The Negation” today and to understand that its composition, timing, and production has influenced modern acts such as Deeds of Flesh, Origin, and Soreption, but at the time of its release, there were certainly no guarantees of its success. However, now that a decade’s worth of retrospection can be applied to the band’s influence upon the global metal community and the subgenre of “tech death”, it is safe to say that Decapitated has cemented its place in the pantheon of modern death metal gods...and a lot of that is due to the acclaim and attention that the band began to accumulate upon the release of “The Negation”.
Clocking in at just over half an hour, “The Negation” is as weighty and hypnotic today as when it was written, and although Decapitated has endured many hardships (including the death of “Vitek”, their original drummer, in a tragic tour-van accident) since its release, the album itself endures as one of the finest early examples of modern technical death metal. All of the pieces are in place: Mercilessly extreme riffs and stutter-stop timings, tortured growls matching the moods of the songs perfectly, and expertly placed moments of lush, lenitive mitigation to soothe the savage beast before plummeting back into the chaotic madness. Beginning with the supercharged opener, “The Fury”, Decapitated wasted no time in expressing their own. Press play to experience it for yourself:
After experiencing such a beating, it is hard to believe that the European four-piece could top “The Fury”, but top it, they did. In fact, they employed another seven original tracks and a Deicide cover to showcase their abilities. Moving along in “The Negation”, other fantastic cuts include “Three-Dimensional Defect”, “Lying and Weak”, and “The Empty Throne”, but if you are looking for one of the best examples of proto-tech death ever recorded, then look no further than the title-track, “The Negation”. Pulsating, pounding, and punitive, I urge you to press play and get to know this stunningly good track:
Summarily, Decapitated’s “The Negation” is an album that is not only standing the test of time, but being aged beautifully by it, too. While the band’s sound has naturally matured and evolved over the past ten years thanks to an influx of new members and new influences, one thing that has not changed is Decapitated’s ability to put out a killer album. Since their reformation in 2009 after a two year hiatus, the outfit has released some of their finest works in 2011’s “Carnival is Over” and 2014’s “Blood Mantra” (both on Nuclear Blast Records), and while change may have been ultimately inevitable for the Polish technical extremists, one thing that hasn’t changed is bands to this day still list “The Negation” as one of the most influential albums on their own shelves, and for that, your humble music critic sends his salutes! \m/ \m/
Keep It Metal!
To listen to “The Negation” in its entirety, just press play below!
(Track Listing: 1. “The Fury”, 2. “Three-Dimensional Defect”, 3. “Lying and Weak”, 4. “Sensual Sickness”, 5. “The Calling” (Instrumental), 6. “The Negation”, 7. “Long-Desired Dementia”, 8. “The Empty Throne”, 9. “Lunatic of God’s Creation” (Deicide Cover))
To check out Decapitated further, just click the following links:
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