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TRUTH DECAYED: Faded Visions I

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April 8

South African metal outfit Truth Decayed are looking to make an impact with their upcoming album Faded Visions I.

After impressing with debut EP Modern Day Illusion, Truth Decayed have given a glimpse into their musical psyche, but promise to pit fans head to head with their inner demons this time around.

The title track doesn’t waste time getting to know you.

There’s no fancy interlude or elongated welcoming instrumental. Instead it plunges head first into heavy riffage and punishing vocals, throwing you into the heat of battle from the outset.

The pace is frenetic and hammering, before a subtle change in direction which follows a momentary pause around the two-minute mark allows you to catch your breath as the playing becomes more deliberate and enchanting until drummer Daniel Philogene comes in with some ferocious double kicks and Johan Maree (or is it Ryno Theron? Both are listed as vocalists…) lays his vocal attack over proceedings before Warren Jones chimes in with a nice guitar run, and suddenly we are introduced to all of the band in a brief 30-second cameo.

Great stuff.

Double kicks introduce Absolute War before a guitar riff from hell dictates proceedings and tempts you into a more measured slab of music that is driven by menacing vocals.

As they bellow “Feed the rich. Kill the poor” it’s painfully obvious that Truth Decayed are a working class person’s band, refusing to be tied into a set genre or path and dictated to by no-one.

It is refreshing in the modern age where you can almost sense bands trying to fit themselves neatly into a marketable package, but it seems Truth Decayed are having none of that.

Their music is sporadic, yet tempered, each note bridging an unseen gap into the next musical adventure, and boy do the boys seem to be having fun with it!

Guitar solos abound, while not overpowering, and the constant drum pattern laid thick by Philogene ebbs and flows with intensity along with a whimsical journey taken at the behest of his teammates in battle.

The World I Know is led in by a couple of china dabs before the vocals enter the fray, measuring each note like acts in a play. The music soon disturbs the serenity, and once more we are plunged into a maelstrom of controlled anarchy given life by music.

It’s hard to call Truth Decayed a band driven by any particular instrument – although the guitars are definitely prominent.

Instead, each track seems to be the sum of each part contributing to the journey and makes for much better listening because of it.

This track slows down after a bit, guitar whirling above a stoic drum beat that soon succumbs to more intense drum and guitar play that is backed up beautifully by Maree on bass duties.

The album’s single PTSD roars to life in an eclectic mixture of dread and foreboding. Musically, this song already speaks volumes for its title, but as the lyrics dive in deeper it becomes evident that PTSD was written from the viewpoint of someone afflicted with the condition.

It speaks volumes for the impact heavy music can have when dealing with sensitive issues, the ferocity of the music painting a bleak picture of an affliction that is suffered by too many in many different forms.

This song sweeps you along with more guitar solos that are as stagnated as the topic demands and you can see why the band decided to release it as the album single.

The Witches Watch rounds out Faded Visions I and is a more introverted number than the rest, meandering its way to life courtesy of a laid back guitar riff that is almost melancholy in its restraint.

Although it has all the makings of a ballad it doesn’t feel like one, which is rare but welcome. It sweeps you along, almost erasing the metal grime that has crusted itself on your senses from the previous four tracks and acts as a nice way to close out an album of pure, unadulterated mayhem.

The guitar play here is exceptional and the fact we are more than three minutes in without a word being sung indicates strongly this is an instrumental, which, after what has come before it, is a brave way to close Faded Vision I out.

Bring on Part II!

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