Decrepit Birth - Diminishing Between Worlds Review artwork

Rating: 4.8

Country: USA

Release Date: 2008

Track list:
Tracklist:
1.The Living Doorway
2.Reflection of Emotions
3.Diminishing Between Worlds
4.Dimensions Intertwine
5.The Enigmatic Form
6.A Gathering of Imaginations
7.Through Alchemy Bound Eternal
8....and Time Begins
9.Await the Unending
10.Essence of Creation0
11.The Morpheus Oracle (Outro)

Band Website: Decrepit Birth

Decrepit Birth - Diminishing Between Worlds

Bill Robinson - Vocals
KC Howard - Drums
Matt Sotelo - Guitars
Dan Eggers - Guitars
Joel Horner - Bass

Okay, so there's this band Decrepit Birth, right. And they play technical death metal. And I'd been so fed up with the kind of bland, uninspired, technical-for-technicality's-sake death metal [Spawn of Possession, Brain Drill, etc.] when I first heard the album that my review of it read more like a rant against the whole genre than an actual review. Now that I've calmed down a bit and listened to it with a more level head, I think I can better elucidate my opinion on the album proper. Have I grown to like the album? Not by a long shot. But at least now I'm able to separate this from the rest of the also-rans.

The first thing that one realizes when listening to Diminishing Between Worlds is how radically different it is from its predecessor And Time Begins. It's not just a cosmetic makeover, but a complete overhaul of the band's sound from one rooted in and bearing every cliché of ultra-brutal California-style death metal to something profoundly influenced by latterday Death and Cynic. These guys have gone from Deeds of Flesh-style low-string rumbling and pummeling as the linchpin of their riffing to laying it on thick with the soaring, scalar melodies.

I don't much care for the typical CA death metal style, so I should welcome the change, right? Unfortunately not.

While the liberal infusion of higher octave melody is welcome in a broad sense, Decrepit Birth's approach to it is sadly not what I look for in that regard. This band relies too much on very basic scalar patterns played in straight 8th or straight 16th notes, which are often modally harmonized uniformly throughout entire songs. It starts out being a fun and somewhat nostalgic listen, hearkening back to the days of Death's Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic albums, but once I get to the fourth or fifth track, tedium sets in quickly, and it begins to sound more like a clinic than an album. The more pronounced [i.e. groove-oriented] melodies are, sadly, simply too generic to provide a proper contrast to the technical riffage.

The pacing doesn't help matters much, either. The band seems to be in an awful hurry to get through this record. Understandable that the technical death metal genre dictates an emphasis on speed, but there simply aren't enough moments in which the band eases up to let the music breathe a bit, and give the individual riffs a real opportunity to shine through. A big part of the problem here is the drumming - both the performance and the production. There's no question that KC Howard is immensely skilled, but he seems to suffer a bit from John Longstreth syndrome, where a drummer feels the need to almost constantly be playing at the fastest tempo and including as many hits as he's physically capable. Granted, Howard's not as bad when it comes to this as Longstreth, as there are some instances [such as on "Reflections of Emotions", "Through Alchemy Bound" and "Await the Unending"] where he does lay off the gas a bit and allow for a groove to be laid down. But unfortunately, these moments are too few and far between, and the riffs played during those segments don't stand out enough to really make it count. As for the drum production... it's simply too high in the mix and irritatingly triggered. A common symptom in newer death metal albums, but here it seems to be a particularly severe case.

The vocals are more of a nuisance than anything. Very monotonous, subdued and ill-fitting. Really a holdover from the band's earlier style, which doesn't mesh well at all with its new approach. A more dynamic vocalist more along the lines of Chuck Schuldiner or Kelly Schaefer would've likely done wonders for this album, complementing the riffing with a more aggressive and emotionally infused scream.

There are positive aspects here, though. It goes without saying that the quality of the performance is stellar. But nowadays, anyone expecting anything less than top-notch professionalism from a death metal record is asking for a heap of shit. The instrumental "The Enigmatic Form" is the one track where the band seems to really get it right, incorporating some very classy clean/acoustic guitar into the mix, as well as some unexpected synth overlays and chaotic leads that produce a genuinely celestial atmosphere and offer a much-needed break from the almost overwhelming pacing of the rest of the album. Sadly, this track is about two minutes shorter than it should be, and feels more like a novel interlude than a serious part of the album, which is a shame because it's got some great potential. Hopefully the band will continue more in that direction in the future.

Ultimately, Diminishing Between Worlds is an album with a built-in audience consisting of people who go ape-shit over anything emerging from the tech-death field. People who fall outside that demographic, however, will not be so easy to win over. I'm very particular when it comes to this style, so I didn't find much to enjoy here. Perhaps if the band goes more in the direction of "The Enigmatic Form" and the middle section of "Essence of Creation" in the future, they'll grab me with the next one.

February 23rd, 2007