Review: “Vitriol” by Display of Decay

Five years after 2018’s “Art Of Mutilation” left us needing a hearing aid, the return of Canadian Death Groove masters Display Of Decay with an album in “Vitriol” which has been mixed and mastered by the man, the myth and the legend that is Christian Donaldson (Despised Icon, Get The Shot, Cryptopsy) is something to get us salivating. Born of rage and spite fuelled by the chaos and uncertainty felt around the Globe over the past few years, the lyrical narratives take influence from a number of interesting sources rather than simply Stephen King novels and Stanley Kubrick movies. Instead they steal some narratives from Diablo, Mass Effect and World Of Warcraft before taking a look at the darker undertones of the mainstream media’s obsession with school shootings and other acts of senseless violence that are continuously looped for ratings evidently posing a risk of reproduction, questioning the real end game of the coverage…

…Brutal opening cut “Malicious Motorcide” wastes no time in setting the tone for the record with distinctive flavours of Florida 90’s Death Metal acts like Deicide bleeding through the bandages. All out attack with the malicious intent referenced in the title the artillery shelling kit performance is as lethal as the plague winds disguised as vocals emanating from the throat of Sean Watson, his riffs offering hints at technicality. Referencing the notorious Butcher character from Diablo, “The Butcher” is arguably the most dynamic cut on the album, it’s tempo shifting like the sands of the Sahara with some deadly moments of lead and groove laden bassline Brandon Siefert that is fearfully addictive. Searing the ear drums and threatening to burn the brains, it’s one that captures the imagination and leaves you wanting more. A Death Metal look at the menacing death knights found in World Of Warcraft, the heavy hitting “Legion of Doom” is a rampage from start to finish with Watson’s death growls reaching throat splitting levels of fury. It’s as if he actually believes he is slaying monsters in Azeroth and that gives the tale a real grit and texture before the flamboyant solo hits like fire from the nostrils of a Dragon. Staccato riff infestations give a machine gun like quality to the start of “Familial Feast” before the scything Groove Death riffs decimate the weak. Another anvil heavy addition, this one is a piece of marble that has been polished to perfection in the rehearsal space to ensure that its fit for human consumption.

A fleeting introduction brings in “Harbinger” and the fretboards begin to smoulder once more almost immediately, Watson’s demonic vocals reaching a scalding new level of power during another furious cut. The surprise in this one is that there is the hint of Melodic Death Metal with haunting piece of lead and almost melancholic melody before the final verse, perhaps hinting that Display of Decay have another string to their bow yet to be exposed. One of two cuts that feature kit work from former drummer Tyson Travnik, “Hot Lead Vengeance” is arguably the most Groove laden of the cuts with echoes of Pantera on the horizon of the hellscape only beaten away by Watson’s harsh vocals. A sinister moment that surrounds the sample of the loading and firing of a gun makes for a perfectly weighted atmospheric, the solo another blistering addition. What this blood bath needs is a power ballad? No? You will know Display of Decay by the trail of entrails that follows them because “Slaughtercast” is brings all the menacing and sinister power the band can harness while it’s thought provoking lyrics about the mass media creating a generation of copy cat killers is a real insight into the darker side of the human condition. Last but by no means least, the title track “Vitriol” rears it’s ugly head from the tar pit of doom, a tornado of cut that finds Watson spitting venom at someone he despises while the rhythm section causes tectonic plates to shift and te foundations to shake. An album to satisfy a bloodlust, this is the smell of fresh napalm in the morning… [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Malicious Motorcide
2. The Butcher
3. Legion of Doom
4. Familial Feast
5. Harbinger
6. Hot Lead Vengeance (ft. Tyson Travnik)
7. Slaughtercast
8. Vitriol (ft. Tyson Travnik)

“Vitriol” by Display of Decay is out 20th October 2023 via Gore House Productions with pre-orders available over at bandcamp.