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Insidious Decrepancy > Extirpating Omniscient Certitude > Reviews
Insidious Decrepancy - Extirpating Omniscient Certitude

Slightly flat production but excellent nonetheless - 84%

Iheartmetal, August 13th, 2011

Shawn and Shaun. Two of the best one man brutal death metal projects around (out of the ones that I've heard, so don't kill me) with Insidious Decrepancy and Putrid Pile respectively. Whereas the latter is more interested in bludgeoning you to death, this project is far more technical and precise, proving a more interesting listening experience.

First of all, Shawn's guitar work must be highly commended. He truly is a fantastic guitarist, creating some brilliant riffs that range from simple and catchy to technical and intricate and all of them are interesting and memorable and serve a purpose - no pointless chugging filler here! He also plays the occasional solo, such as at the start of Perpetual Equanimity, and like the rest of his playing these are pretty fucking cool! The guitar tone can tend to be a bit flat and clear and this is likely to put quite a few people off, but personally I really like the clear production on the guitar work: it makes everything clear and easy to hear, which makes it easier to appreciate the catchy and technical riffing.

The drumming is done on a drum machine but I think Shawn's managed to get it just right with his drum programming as they're fast and technical but not inhumanly so. It actually sounds sometimes like there's someone playing this as they have a reasonably natural sound for programmed drums and are not inhumanly fast (I'm pretty sure that George Kollias can play faster than most of the stuff on this) which helps keep the album from sounding too sterile.

Shawn has a powerful growl which fits perfectly with the music. Deep and gruff but still quite clear (like every part of the album) he has a fantastic sound and is probably one of my favourite brutal death metal vocalists. The lyrics are nothing too amazing, but are reasonably well written and intelligent and as such are far more fitting for this style of music than any cliched rantings about gutting prostitutes.

Overall this is a very enjoyable brutal tech death album that has brilliant and catchy guitar work, good drum programming and excellent vocals but sometimes suffers from a slightly sterile production. However this isn't too much of a problem as it makes everything easier to hear and to appreciate, so really it'll just be people who think that tech death is "soulless wankery" that will hate this. And they're missing out on a very impressive and memorable album, with riffs that will stick with you for long after you've finished listening to this.

A Frenzy Of Brutality - 83%

Charlo, June 12th, 2010

Shawn Whitaker, the man behind Insidious Decrepancy, never stops putting out albums. Between this band and Viral Load, he has put out tons of brutal death metal masterpieces. Whereas Viral Load is a simpler band, Insidious Decrepancy is a technically-oriented band with loads of serpentine riffs to satisfy even the hungriest of fans. Unfortunately, there are some problems that prevent this album from being all that it could be.

This album's production is a little flat. It's understandable that a tech-death band would want to have a clean production so as to make everything audible, but this album goes a bit too far. The guitars are not nearly as heavy as they should be, and the programmed drums stand out too much. That's not to say the drums are bad;on the contrary, these are some of the best programmed drums I have ever heard. Whitaker does a really good job at coming up with interesting drum beats that match the frenzied intensity of the music. He also knows how to restrain himself, and doesn't include anything that is so complicated that it precludes a human being ever playing it on a real drum set.

Whitaker's vocals are interesting. They aren't guttural at all, in a way that's hard to describe. He's not making an effort to make his voice go as low as possible;it seems like he's trying to make it sound like another riff. Much of the time he is not pronouncing anything, but when he does, it is readily understandable. There are also some screams which really make an impact when they are heard. The lyrics seem mostly to deal with anti-religious and existentialist themes, which is old hat for death metal but better than the mindless gore that most brutal death metal bands worship. They're not particularly well-written, but comprehensible enough that I won't complain.

Most tech-death bands succumb to writing a whole bunch of weedly-doodly riffs and simply pushing them together. Insidious Decrepancy says fuck that. The riffs here are somewhat in that style, but imbrued with the slam tendencies of Viral Load. There aren't many traditional slams, but instead a lot of slam-style riffs sped up and meshed with other technical riffs. The result (Technical Slam Death?) is a very original and fun listening experience. However, most of the riffs are similar enough that you won't remember them past the time you hear them. This album is 30 minutes of the same stuff, with only the occasional melodic guitar lead to keep you from becoming totally lost. Whitaker again bucks the trend of most tech-death by including very few solos;it's a nice change, but I think that a bit of shredding would help this album out tremendously.

Overall, this album is an exhilarating but unfulfilling experience. The music is great while you hear it but afterwards you won't remember much about it. We could have had a brutal death metal classic on our hands, but it falls short. However, if you want a unique listening experience and are a fan of technical or brutal death metal, I still recommend this album. It doesn't live up to its potential but it will still quench your thirst for brutality.