Decree- Fateless

Artist: Decree

CD title: Fateless

Label: ARTOFFACT RECORDS

Genre: Industrial

Website: https://www.decree.ca/

Reviewer: DJ Kantrip

Date: 06/10/2011

Buy Here: https://www.artoffact.com/releases.php

It's a rare day when Decree releases an album, but when they do, it is hard to ignore the sonic hell-storm they bring with them.  Fateless is Decree's third album, in 14 years, and once more they deliver a sound that is raw, unforgiving, and reminds this reviewer just why he loves Industrial music.

Decree is a project fronted by Chris Peterson (Front Line Assembly), along with Sean Lawson and Ross Redhead (Unit 187), which is a perfect fusion of their source bands' sounds.  The atmospheric awe-inspiring soundscapes of FLA combined with the metal-infused guitars and vocals of Unit 187.   The result is a wall of sound that hits the listener like a brick and drowns them in a sea of Industrial goodness.

Fateless starts off abruptly, as both of the previous albums did.  The opening track erupts into War-like drums followed by guitar distortion, and Sean Lawson's ferocious vocals punching through a quickly building wall of noise.  Listening to Fateless gives this reviewer the impression of what it must be like to be hit by a tidal wave and dragged under water.  Out of nowhere you're knocked senseless and everywhere you turn there is just this roar around you.  As far as a listening experience goes, Fateless is an immersible one given the proper setting.

Unfortunately this immersible sound, is also Decree's weakness.  The harder songs like The World Enslaves, Fateless, and Finite Years feel rather two-dimensional.  The drums, guitars, synths and vocals all sound as if they are on the same plane.  No one part reaches out or gives the listener a sense of focus.  This wouldn't be a big issue for me, if all the tracks were like this.  However on some of the more atmospheric and slow songs, like Night and Fog and Into the Light, there is a “third dimension” being created.  The Cello and Synthesizer create a nice backdrop, while the drums break through that perfect veil, and the vocals crawl over and around the drums.  There is space being created there for the listener to insert themselves into.   The harder tracks just have a  feel of everyone playing and singing as loud as possible.  It creates a bit of a dissonance in the overall listening experience.

All complaints aside, Decree delivers another amazing album.  Fateless doesn't deviate from the previous two Decree releases, and it doesnt need to.  It is raw powerful industrial music at its finest.  Sometimes fast, and angry.  Sometimes slow and atmospheric.  Almost simple in its execution despite an obvious complexity to its composition.  Even if does sound all mashed up in the final mix.