Decrepisy – Deific Mourning (Review)

This is the second album from Decrepisy, a death metal band from the US.

Brought to us by current/ex-members of bands such as Acephalix,  Ascended Dead, Coffin Rot, Necrot, Ritual Necromancy, Vastum, and Voidceremony, Deific Mourning is the 45-minute follow up to 2021’s enjoyable Emetic Communion. Let’s see what this new record is all about then, shall we?

On this album Decrepisy’s core lineup is augmented this time around by lead vocals from the very capable singer of Acephalix/Draghkar/Vastum, and synths/noise/vocals from two others, one who performs guitar/vocals in Vastum.

Decrepisy have developed their sound since Emetic Communion. Deific Mourning takes the band further into the darkness, and shifts course into doomier, gloomier, more terrifying abyssal depths.

Combining horrific death metal with great slabs of crushing doom, Deific Mourning embraces the latter. There is a Gothic metal feel to the compositions too, in places. The songs use these base components well, building macabre structures that benefit from not only brutal heaviness, but from atmospheres that are surprisingly rich. The atmospheric side of the music, (enriched by the synth and noise elements, as well as some truly otherworldly leads), is an important part of Deific Mourning‘s success. I like how this aspect of the music is frequently spectral and eerie in nature.

The album is ripe with quality riffs and affecting solos. Both are impactful and necessary to the overall feel of the songs – nothing here is extraneous or filler material; everything is carefully crafted in service of malignant atmospheric brutality, merging death and doom metal into something supremely well-realised. The soundscapes created are obviously death/doom, yet also ascend the genre, providing an experience that’s above the average for the style.

Decrepisy’s new record is a monster. They have exceeded expectations. If this sort of dark, atmospheric death/doom hits the spot for you, Deific Mourning is an album that you’ll very much want to immerse yourself in.

Essential listening.