Signs of Mental Decay

First and foremost I would like to state that while finding a couple of bands quite enjoyable, I think that the Slovene metal scene lacks a large amount of originality to be propelled into the mainstream or achieve a solid/cult underground status. Xenophobia, however, are one of the few exceptions here. They deliver solid death/thrash metal with many technical flourishes and a couple of elements that would normally be considered oddities by the metal world while for still managing to stay miles away from self-indulgent wankery and for the most part adding tasteful additions to already good sections. Dregs of Mankind contains a violin solo that does not sound out of place at all, while the second track, Money Over Mind features a couple of brief saxophone interludes! Caught in Eternity features a quick operatic vocal intro sung by a female vocalist. She reappears later in the song to repeatedly sing "Hallelujah!", however I'm quite sure that the song would have a better flow and would be more listenable if this part was omitted completely. On the other hand, though, the song also features a brilliant piano outro. Finally, the title track features a couple of blazing blast beat sections, a clean guitar interlude and also a couple of awesome atmospheric parts where the keyboards play a major role. The keyboards appear through the whole album to add atmosphere when it's needed.

The production as a whole kicks ass, the guitars are nice and crunchy, the synth isn't too loud, the bass is audible, has a jazzy sound and fits perfectly with the other half of the rhythm section, which in itself definitely manages to impress. The vocals are typical for death metal of that day and age, which doesn't bother me at all since I'm a huge fan of oldschool death metal. The sound is very clear and it's possible to make out all the instruments if you listen closely, which is not bad at all since they're all stellar musicians.

All in all, Signs of Mental Decay is a great release, brought down only by an inappropriate chorus in an otherwise great song (Otherwise, I would've given this release at least a 95%). Now, the rest of Slovenia only needs to follow suit and create equally original music...