Winds of Plague - Decimate The Weak Review
Posted by Dan Marsicano on 04.25.2008
Southern California deathcore band Winds of Plague have released their first major label debut, Decimate The Weak. Does their mix of hardcore and symphonic death metal lead to an innovative album?
The Band
Jonathan Cook-Vocals
Nick Piunno-Guitar
Nick Eash-Guitar
Jeff Tenney-Drums
Andrew Glover-Bass
Matt Fineman-Keyboard
The Track Listing
1. A Cold Day in Hell-1:14
2. Anthems of Apocalypse-5:47
3. The Impaler-3:02
4. Decimate the Weak-3:38
5. Origins and Endings-4:30
6. Angels of Debauchery-4:33
7. Reloaded-2:29
8. Unbreakable-4:16
9. One Body Too Many-3:37
10. Legions-3:49
The Review
Winds of Plague, a deathcore band from Southern California, is trying their hand at making an impact amongst metal fans worldwide. Their sound is a mix of symphonic death metal and hardcore with elements of thrash metal sprinkled in for good measures. In a press release, vocalist Jonathan Cook, or Johnny Plague as he likes to be called, stated, “Only the strong survive, decimate the weak.” I think that this quote applies perfectly to Decimate The Weak, at least in certain sections.
Throughout the album, the band sounds like they are five seconds away from destroying every thing in their paths. Their sound is fast, the riffs are furious, and Cook growls like the end of the world is approaching from his rearview mirror. These moments are worthwhile, as you can sense that the band knows what it is to make a death metal song sound brutal, fast, and melodic all at the same time. That is, until the hardcore parts come in.
I don’t hate hardcore music. Hell, I’ll crank up Perseverance from time to time in my car and look like one of those kids at a metal show that seems to be having a brain aneurysm in a mosh pit. However, many of the hardcore breakdowns are about as out of place as Avril Lavigne doing a Metallica cover. They break up the pace of the song in a negative way, only really working on “Anthems of Apocalypse” and the title track.
The song that really stands out is “Reloaded.” With this song, the band turns into a Hatebreed clone. The first line is enough to make any metal fan cringe.
“What the fuck is up motherfuckers? This is what it’s about, all that 2008 shit.”
I shit you not. The first time I heard this, I literally almost spit out the water I was drinking. The whole song is like this. I took my CD out and had to stare at it to make sure it didn’t turn into a different album. The song is a giant misstep, but thankfully is the only really god-awful song on Decimate The Weak.
The immediate highlights are the two songs I mentioned earlier, “Anthems of Apocalypse” and the title track. The former is a blast of Swedish death metal with well placed keyboard work and the latter pummels you into submission then brings it all together with an awesome melodic section at the end, with a decent solo and some of the best use of keys on the entire album.
“Angels of Debauchery” kicked my ass the first time and the hardcore breakdown was well placed. The clean electric guitar section about two minutes in was a nice touch that showed the band has a lot more versatility than people may think. “The Impaler” is a fast paced brutal track that leaves you breathless before its three minutes runs up and “Legions” is a decent ending track that is again saved from mediocrity by Fineman’s black metal-ish keyboards.
The keyboard work, done by ex-member Matt Fineman, saves what could have been an average deathcore album. He keeps the keyboards sounding as tasteful as possible without getting too cheesy or over the top and adds that bit of melody that the band needed to have. “One Body Too Many” brings a surprisingly heavenly sound to the darkness that spews from the band because of the keyboard…well, at least for about 10 seconds.
Jonathan Cook is about as varied as a death metal vocalist can get, ranging from a great throaty grunt to a decent scream to a strictly average hardcore bark. I wished that he used more of the grunt throughout the album, as he really knows how to keep a constant control of it.
The guitar duo of Nick Piunno and Nick Eash are good and do their job. They don’t bring anything new to the table, except for the occasional great solo or a head banging riff. Andrew Glover is hardly noticeable and Jeff Tenney hits those blast beats with skill and keeps rhythm with the rest of the band, but didn’t really impress me with anything spectacular.
The last thing I have to comment on the album’s track list. I don’t mind bands bringing over a song or two from their first album, especially if the album is an independent release nobody ever heard of, but Winds of Plague brings over four songs from their last album. “A Cold Day In Hell,” “Anthems of Apocalypse,” “One Body Too Many,” and “Legions” were all on their last album, 2005’s A Cold Day In Hell. So, yes, there are only six actual new songs. It just seems like the band had an EP of stuff and wanted to add some songs to get that LP out to Century Media. It’s not a bad thing, but I hope to see a full album of new material from the band next time.
Decimate The Weak sets out to blow speakers and wring people’s necks, and at times, it succeeds. If you are looking for another deathcore band to sink your teeth into, and don’t mind a little keyboard action on the side, pick Decimate The Weak up. However, if you are looking for something the least bit innovative or creative, then you won’t find anything here to get excited about. That is, unless you’re a big fan of frontmen who give shout outs to all their “motherfuckers” and to that “2008 shit.”
The 411: The album has its moments when you think "wow, this kicks ass" and then follows it up with a breakdown that either has you going "Heellll yeaaaa!" or "God dammit, not again." The album is very inconsistant, having a brillant track like "Angels of Debauchery" being followed up by hardcore mainstream crap like "Reloaded." If the band just stuck to the symphonic death metal with a hint of melody, I really think that this album could of been one of my top albums of early 2008. Instead, its just an above average album with a lot of potential. Hopefully, their next release will have songs that cater to what the band is good at; death metal.
