Days Of Our Decay - Compilation Album

Days Of Our Decay was created in Canada in the autumn of 2002 by Darvius Noctem. This is an album of 13 tracks.

"Master of Funerals", has me immediately listening for Marilyn Manson vocal comparisons after all I have read about Darvius before. Personally, I can't see it yet but that is not meant as a criticism of any kind. On this track the vocals sound more Andreas Bergh to me, if I have to make any comparisons, and take that as a complement. My initial impression and problem with this track is that I don't find the keyboards strong enough to match such strong vocals.

In "(Pray For Me) As I Prey On You", we are immediately again hit by the strong vocals. It's dark no argument, it could be described as both hard and soft gothic metal perhaps, making it to my mind somehat unique. I find myself going back and forward over the first few tracks and they do grow on you. So if your initial impressions are like mine, please remember this. "Almost Beautiful", is just that, almost beautiful, and in my opinion the song is more suited to what Darvius is trying to create. It is also very melodic, but that is one advantage of using keyboards with such prominence.

"I Love How We Drown", also employs guitars more prominently without taking away from the keyboards, which makes for a slightly bigger sound. Great melody once again, and the vocals including backing vocals match perfectly, giving a gothic metal sound overall. A more solemn start for "October's Over", with piano combined with the more used organ sounds, once again making for a better overall sound for me.

Again more gothic metal sounding but always with a difference is "Bullet With Your Name". "Pretty When You Die", continues in much the same way although we are now lacking the melody of previous tracks. After a slight dip in my enjoyment, "Mausoleum Heart" once again picks up from the promise shown by "I Love How We Drown", and has a Rammstein touch especially around the vocals.

"Disconnect The Trend" doesn't add much, but I like the use of choir and backing vocals on this, one of the best tracks. In "She Makes Graves", the backing vocals of Demonika are even more prominent and complement Darvius's vocals well. This all makes for a real dark goth sound and maybe nearer rock than metal. This is followed by "Elevator Music For The Dying", which again uses the backing vocals to good effect, the choir vocals really stand out.

We finish with the song "River Ends", most prominent are keyboards, with a hint of guitars and a gentle drum beat which has been used throughout.


Conclusion:
I believe that is the artists intention to have keyboards as the driving force in the album, and herewith lies my problem. It of course may not be yours and others no doubt will have a better understanding of Darvius's reason's for this preference. It's just not what we are used to hearing and for many I believe if you can get over this you will enjoy it. I suppose the debate is now open as to whether using keyboards in such a way is suitable for this type of music. For me it works to a point and particularly well where the backing vocals are strong.

My main criticism is that I did find it a little monotonous, Darvius has a style that is obvious throughout, but I would like to hear more variation than there is. In his defense I must say that it is an album of thirteen tracks and has not been filled up with remixes. My highlights, "She Makes Graves", it reminds me of someone I know, "I Love How We Drown", and "Almost Beautiful". The more I listen to it the more I like it, and all the influences show through somewhere, Deathstars, Type O Negative, Rammstein...

If you like this, look out their website as they have a heap of free downloads on it as prolific releasing artists. Jun 03 2012