More Nevermore?
It would be all too easy to write a one sentence review of "This Violent Decline": it sounds like Nevermore's "This Godless Endeavor" with the same production as "Slaughter of the Soul" by At The Gates. Unfortunately, I'm duty bound to deliver at least four hundred words on this LP, so here goes...
"This Violent Decline" is the sixth full-length album from these Bruges (Belgium) natives: - unbelievably, After All have been plying their trade since the early 1990s and have a string of releases to their name. They've also been out on tour recently with King Diamond, Candlemass and Destruction. Their new album is 38 minutes of lean modern thrash metal. The twin guitars of Dries Van Damme and Christophe Depree chug 'n buzz over the pounding drums of Kevin Strubbe. Erwin Casier's bass guitar is probably doing something interesting too, but it's buried so low in the mix you'd have to listen fairly intently to hear it. The problem is, all of the songs sound like offcuts from the last Nevermore LP. There's the same busy songwriting, the same vaguely eastern modes and tones; vocalist Piet Focroul even sounds a hell of a lot like Nevermore frontman Warrel Dane, right down to Piet's flawless American accent. Belgium doesn't really have a definable metal scene or identity of its own, which might be why After All have decided to steal someone else's. That isn't necessarily a bad thing: "This Godless Endeavor" was one of the biggest critical smashes of 2005. Unfortunately, however, the material on "This Violent Decline" doesn't quite match Nevermore's baby for sheer headbanging goodness.
"This Violent Decline" was recorded in a Belgian studio, but the band decamped to Gothenburg, Sweden, to employ the services of Studio Fredman and uber-producer Fredrik Nordstrom for the mixing process. The end result is an album which has the Gothenthrash sound indelibly stamped upon it... a sound which my ears are getting a little tired of, given the glut of bands currently copping that dry At The Gates guitar tone.
So there you have it: "This Violent Decline" sounds like Nevermore's "This Godless Endeavor" with the same production as "Slaughter of the Soul" by At The Gates. After All have delivered a solid and enjoyable album, but the sad fact is that when you want to listen to some modern, melodic thrash metal your fingers are always going to skip past "This Violent Decline" before settling on the Nevermore section of your CD collection.