### Decapitated: Winds of creation

#### 13/09/07 || The Duff

Decapitated are without a doubt my favourite death metal band; although I would wholeheartedly agree that there is better death metal out there, something about these Poles just keeps making me come back for more (this could be misinterpreted for the worse…). Decapitated have released four albums, all of which offer something invaluable, and all of which I return to without fail for multiple listens every week, I can’t think of a band I admire more.

So what does their debut entail? It is without doubt that the talent of these young (at the time) kids started to reveal itself at a very early stage in their career, as a great majority of the riffs on this now considered death metal milestone are absolutely deadly. At times this album come across as a little too straightforward, where the band maybe didn’t quite have the confidence to just run with it, deciding instead to settle into comfortable territory of rehashed Cannibal Corpse riffs, but for the most part this album is the cream of the crop.

Vogg is one of the three guitarists towards whom I aspire the most as a guitar player, situated alongside Hendrix and Satriani/Vai – he writes incredible riffs, plays rhythm guitar to an outstanding degree, and produces some of the best solos I’ve ever heard (the one on “Three-Dimensional Defect”, off “The Negation”, is probably in my top five of all time), combining accurately executed shredding with tasty licks and runs, along with having a real saucy vibrato to boot.

What’s more, as much as shredding in general has garnered quite an unfavorable reputation these days, his phrasing is such that it keeps things incredibly interesting (quite a feat, considering all one is usually doing is playing variations of moving up and down the neck very quickly) – not one solo is at fault on “Winds of Creation”, an album possibly boasting Vogg’s most outstanding lead work to date.

Vitek, considering he was but three years old at the time of recording this, is very proficient a drummer. On “Winds of Creation”, his talents have not fully matured to the point of excellence that would later be revealed on albums “Organic Hallucinosis” and “The Negation”, but at the same time he doesn’t appear to be over-doing things as I may think him guilty of on “Nihility”. Instead, we get a comfortable middle-ground where his inexperience shows to some degree but where he also exhibits a great level of promise for things to come.

The two opening tracks are tech death masterpieces, with Vogg’s incredible riffing style accentuated by interesting stop-start rhythms, impressive double-kick work and relatively interesting fills; this was the first Decapitated album I ever owned (my introduction to death metal), and it just grabbed me from the get-go – by the time the ultra-groovy opening riff to ‘‘Blessed’‘ kicked in, I was in love with this band.

Things take a step down with ‘‘The First Damned’‘, both in complexity and greatness (a little dull, and definitely the weakest track off the album), as they do with ‘‘Ways to Salvation’‘ (this one is kept necessarily short, and the ending breakdown/solo combination is awesome, so this track still has a lot to offer), but then the album picks up with renewed vigor with the track ‘‘The Eye of Horus’‘ (a slow-paced track with a killer ‘‘chorus’‘ riff that succeeds where ‘‘The First Damned’‘ failed to fully take off).

The two closers return to the frenzy of the paired openers, with ‘‘Nine Steps’‘ culminating in a ‘‘slow-down to a standstill’‘ riff that is undeniably one of Decapitated’s greatest moments. The instrumental that follows is a little anti-climactic (apparently taken from Celtic Frost?), and the Slayer cover somewhat unnecessary – not many can justify covering Slayer – but still packing enough punch to close things in a satisfying manner (it’s speeded up, and the solo vastly improves on the traditional Slayer garbage). Still would have preferred another track.

This here is probably Decapitated’s least original offering next to “The Negation”, as they have clearly grown up idolizing the likes of Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Immolation only to release an album displaying such worship. However, run-of-the-mill this certainly is not, and for the type of death metal it is, you’re unlikely to find much better.

I would probably recommend this as the last Decapitated cd you should own, but then this is purely because the band really discovered its own sound but soon after. This is still one of the better albums I’ve come across over the years (take this from a major fan, mind), highly recommend to anyone looking for new bands covering old ground in the best possible of ways.

8 kids with no pubes out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2000
- Label: Wicked World
- Website: www.decapitated.pl Band
- Sauron: vocals
- Vogg: guitars
- Martin: bass
- Vitek: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Winds of Creation
- 02. Blessed
- 03. The First Damned
- 04. Ways to Salvation
- 05. Eye of Horus
- 06. Human’s Dust
- 07. Nine Steps
- 08. Dance Macabre
- 09. South of Heaven