When the keyboard-driven intro “A Cold Day In Hell” triumphantly erupts from the speakers, I instantly assumed that I was in the presence of some Symphonic Black Metal band, but then the first song proper “Anthems of Apocalypse” kicks in with a brutal sound not a million miles away from The Black Dahlia Murder or Bleeding Through to boggle things up. Even though the aforementioned bands are deemed to orbit around the Death-core stratosphere with relative success, both frequently leap over the somehow rigid limits of the style to incorporate other influences into their sound such as Black-Metal and Grind-Core. And just like Bleeding Through, Winds of Plague have employed the use of keyboards to add some nuances and atmosphere into a sound-structure sustained on a conjunction of Death-Metal and Hardcore elements all boosted by a vocal style akin to The Black Dahlia Murder that ranges from guttural Death-Metal to vitriolic Black-Metal. Most of the time, this weird amalgam of musical styles and influences sounds fairly competent and interesting, but on some occasions it does comes across as a chaotic, confused mishmash of ideas. Thankfully, “Decimate the Weak” which was recorded with Daniel Castleman (As I Lay Dying) and mixed by Tue Madsen (Dark Tranquillity, The Haunted), bears more upsides than downsides and those include the already mentioned and accurately titled “Anthems of Apocalypse”, the title theme and “Angel of Debauchery”. While “Decimate the Weak”-track shows an unimaginable combination of a Deicide-driven Death Metal attack with violins and other string-synths, “Angel of Debauchery” is a perfect synthesis of all textures of Winds of Plague diverse sound.Not exactly a perfect, nor a surprisingly original work, “Decimate the Weak” is well worth further investigation from all Death-core devotees. (6/10)
Band info: myspace.com/windsofplague
Label info: www.centurymedia.com
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