### Lifelover: Dekadens

#### 08/11/10 || BigBoi

It’s a cool, sunny day here in Richmond, Virginia. Birds are chirping, students are toting themselves to and from class; everything seems to be at peace here in the capital city. Unless of course you’re entrapped in the dungeon-esque confines of your room reviewing the latest EP by suicidal black metallers Lifelover, a band that has continually churned out downtrodden odes to all things bleak and dreary since 2005. You can expect tunes by people that look like this to put a damper on your day… Ok I’ll admit, they look kinda ridiculous.

People usually attribute Lifelover and Shining to be at the top of the depressive black metal scene. Which is understandable, cuz’ both artists seem to expertise in creating truly desolate atmospheres devoid of any hope or positivity. Following the highly enjoyable “Konkurs”, “Dekadens” picks up the baton right where the previous full length left off, although treading a slightly different path.

I almost feel like these disturbed fuckos secretly love driving around in their hearses blasting all the latest pop tunes from their stereos. Seriously, the majority of the songs here have the look and feel of a typical radio “hit” (from hell of course), being to-the-point, catchy and generally simplistic. And by god, we actually encounter a few, dare i say, happy moments on “Dekadens.” “Lethargy” and the beginning minute of “Destination: Ingenstans” are perfect examples. I find these upbeat parts to be more tongue-in-cheek than anything, but they don’t detract from the overall quality/misery of the material.

The lead singer still sounds like he’s enduring medieval torture throughout the entire recording, or being manhandled in a dark alleyway by Lady Gaga (who has a big ol’ weiner). Whichever one sounds more horrifying to you. Their signature spoken passages are found in abundance here as well, and being a sucker for unnerving speech clips, I’d say Lifelover integrate them into their sound much better than most bands out there. The overall feel of “Dekadens”, as compared to previous releases, is much more violent with a sense of urgency permeating the 7 track span. Tracks like “Myspys” and “Major Fuck Off” (nuff’ said) let the listener know that Lifelover hate you, themselves, and would probably bite the head off your puppy if given the chance. But fear not, they just as readily descend from bouts of rage into depression, causing an American like myself to question his desire to someday visit Sweden, Lifelover’s hometown.

From the seething first tracks tracks to its oddly bipolar end, “Dekadens” proves to be a satisfying lesson in self-loathing and another worthy addition to Lifelover’s steadily growing catalog. If you can get past the acquired taste vocals and weird pop vibes, you’re in for a good downer of a listen. Now hurry the fuck up with that next full length please!

- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Osmose Productions
- Website: Lifelover MySpace
- () (Kim Carlsson): vocals, speech
- B (Nattdal): vocals, speech, guitars, piano
- H: guitars
- Fix: bass
- 1853: vocals, speech
- LR: vocals, speech
- Non (Stigmata): drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Luguber Framtid
- 02. Myspys
- 03. Major Fuck Off
- 04. Lethargy
- 05. Androider
- 06. Visomdsord
- 07. Destination: Ingenstans