We Will Destroy... You Will Obey!!!

I’m really sort of surprised at myself for not having been more familiar with Dekapitator. I pride myself on knowing the better bands out there in the modern day, but somehow I lost my radar on this band from San Jose, California.

Originally released in ’99, We Will Destroy…You Will Obey!! is a lesson in musical savagery that boils my blood and forces me to expel energy otherwise pent up and ignored. The Relapse reissue is a nice compliment for dinks like me that missed this gem the first time around and now beat themselves with barbed wire hangers because of being late to the party.

Produced masterfully by the incomparable James Murphy, We Will Destroy… has all of the best parts of a thrash/death assault usually absent in a venture of similar undertaking. What I like so much in this album is it doesn’t set out to change the world or even dent the psyche; it’s well-crafted volatility set to power chords and raspy vocalization that sets out to do little more than raise your blood pressure and incite feelings of reckless abandon. It does this and then some. Some very ancient forms of thrash metal are incorporated herein to the point of near-mimicry if not for the tremendous slap across the face to this ridiculous crop of ‘nu-thrash’ bands popping up and laying claim to such a sound some 25-years after the fact. I never thought I’d see thrash metal becoming a mall entity, but slowly and surely it is, and while I treat thrash metal today much in the same way I look at black metal as modern parody exceptions are to be made where applicable.

Early Kreator is certainly a reasonable comparison here, as is early Metallica, Exodus and a faster version of Tank, but Dekapitator relies on more than its wits and influence to garner such favor; the music being of sonic imperfection is what makes it so viable to my old and damaged ears. There is nothing new to be hashed in thrash metal as a whole, but unlike black metal that stagnates to the point of abject boredom thrash can be utilized to an at least differing level, albeit blueprinted and patterned. Tracks like “Attack with Mayhem,” “Hell’s Metal” or “Release the Dogs” remind me of the good ol’ days when metal had a lone purpose of creating a large swarm of bodies, sweaty and limber, that climbed over and banged into one another in the most illogical and primitive fashion ever seen by human eyes. While the ritualistic dance has also been watered down to the lowest common factor, the music still finds a captive audience when implemented by musicians that simply ‘get it’. Dekapitator gets it, balls it up, throws it into your chest at top speed, then laughs as you cower in pain and a poser’s embarrassment. That, my friends, is what speedy thrash metal is all about - the musical carnival that forces a cathartic reaction to all things basic and normal.

What the crux of this review hopefully gets you to do is revisit a period of musical abandonment that cared little for outside influence and even less for rules and guidelines. At its most naked, thrash metal finds an incredibly high peak within the chaotic assembly that is We Will Detroy…You Will Obey!! if, for nothing else, a chance look at true discord all too often left to interview blurbs or photo-ops by latecomers. When you want something done right, go to the masters - if the master is not at home, find a worthy subject to carry the name in his absence.

Dekapitator is the lord of the manor for today’s visit.

(Originally written for www.metalpsalter.com)

One shot, one fuckin' KILL!

Oh, sorry. Howdy folks. It's your old pal Cheese back again with another spectacular review! This time I'm gonna get my review on with the Exhumed side project Dekapitator, who are more old school sounding then most old Thrash bands. The music on this album is not epic, or artsy.. It's plain 'ol senselessly violent fun. The lyrics are silly, in a self-satiristic kind of way, but whatever. Simply shut off your brains, and HEADBANG!! (Who the fuck needs a brain to bang anyway?!)

I'm not one for segways, so let me jump right into the riffage! The riffs on here are, for the most part heavy and simplistic.. But they still kick your ass and disembowel (I'm going to make it a point to use the word disembowel in everyone of my reviews) you! It's really hard to point out any specifically awesome riffs.. There aren't too many "Holy fucking shit! That riff just tore off my sack!" type of riffs on here, but there are also few, if any moments of lameness.

Thrash breaks show up very frequently on this album, and they are very well done and timed excellently. Check out the 1:21 mark of the title track for an awesome break. Very melodic, yet perfect for mid-paced bangage. "Possed With Damnation" also has a nice break, which kicks in after a command to "THRASH!" by Matt Hellfiend. We will Matt, we will.

The solos are another highlight on this 'lil Thrash baby. Thankfully the Dekapitating ones don't resort to the Slayer method (You know what I'm talking about!) or the Kreator/Dark Angel style of soloing so fast and aggressive that they cannot be fully enjoyed. The solos on here are actually PART of the songs, rather than just leading to the next set of riffs. Make sense? No? Ok. Well think of Sodom's solos. The almost-a-minute-long solo in Release The Dogs abosultely slays. I read in an interview with Hellfiend that James Murphy (Who produced this, or something) really pushed these guys to solo better. Good work Jimmy! It paid off!

Speaking of production, the production on here is fanatastic... For Thrash. It's raw, but not KLTV raw, and it captures the essence of old school gritty thrash perfectly. The guitars have a pretty low end sound, but the higher licks are completely clear and audible. Matt Hellfiends hoarse bark (He kind of sounds like Oderus from GWAR at times) is mixed pretty evenly with the guitars, and the drums are slightly overpowered.. Which is fine, because they aren't all that fantastic. Competent, yes, but nothing to cream your tighty whities over.

"Nothing to cream your tighty whities over" Kind of sums this album up. There are few weak moments, but there isn't anything that is "Absolutely fucking awesomely great" either. "We Will Destroy...You Will Obey!!!" is simply a solid thrash album that is more than likely paying homage to the genre, but manages to outdo a lot of thrash albums in the process. Reccomended!

Random and pointless fact: Dekapitator backwards is "rotatipakeD".

There's a pretty simple way to determine whether you will like this album or not. Sit down, think clearly, and ask yourself "Do I like thrash fucking metal?" If the answer is no, then stop reading right now because you won't like this, and go listen to Agalloch and darn some socks or do word problems or drink sugar-free Coke or whatever it is non-thrashers do.

However, if the answer is yes, then go out and buy We Will Destroy...You Will Obey YESTERDAY. No album since Bonded By Blood has so clearly, both musically and thematically, summed up all that is thrash. From bringing in random members of other bands to do shouted gang vocals, to throwing Nuclear Assault thrash breaks into the middle of songs because there is not enough abusive riffage on this album, to referring to a song by its initials for no good reason, to threatening all poseurs with certain bodily harm, Dekapitator has it all.

The music is basically half an hour of old-school thrash metal riffage, with the occasional speed metal Priest/Maiden-worship lead break thrown in (see the title track) to keep things interesting. Upon listening to Exorcist's Nightmare Theatre, it occurs to me that this sounds very similar–"Possessed By Damnation" even has a chorus nearly identical to "Death By Bewitchment." The vocals are delivered in a hoarse barking style by one Matt Hellfiend (Matt Harvey of Exhumed), who also is capable of some impressive shrieks ("Haunted By Evil"), and the the drumming is competent if not stellar.

Notable songs include "Possessed By Damnation," with its excellent East Coast riff break at 1:15 (heralded by a shout of "THRASH!", which is for some reason unspeakably cool), and the excellent "Hell's Metal," which has one of the better main riffs on the album–reminiscent of the glory that is Kreator's "Tormentor." "T.F.S. (Total Fucking Slaughter)" is two minutes of mind-numbing, neck-breaking awesomeness, with the best of the eleven excessively catchy choruses on the album–go ahead, snarl "SLAUGHTER SLAUGHTER! Blood runs red! FUCKING SLAUGHTER! Till you're dead!" at the top of your lungs. I assure you, it's an exceptionally cool thing to do; I do it all the time. "Haunted By Evil" is the most structurally complex thing on the album, which is not very, and has lots of different riffs (often verging on speed metal) and a cool drum-gallop slowdown thing. Finally, "Release the Dogs" is a textbook example of a well-done thrash anthem, building up from verse to pre-chorus to chorus with a masterful use of three simple riffs that would make Sodom proud. The half-time bridge section at 2:38 is, well, fist-banging mania.

Does this album break any new ground? No. Does it expand your mind and take you to a higher level of consciousness? No. Will it inspire an entire genre of countless worshippers? Only if we're incredibly fucking lucky.

Are you still a pussy for not owning it already? Yes, yes you are.