Year : 1992 (Century Media Records Edition 2014)
Style : Death Metal , Thrash Metal
Country : France
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 161 mb
Bio:
Massacra was one of France's leading death/thrash metal bands in the early nineties.After recording three demos in the 1980s, they finally landed a deal with Shark Records from Germany, and released their famous debut, Final Holocaust in 1990. Unfortunately, they found themselves at odds with the label's trend-following attitude and after two successful albums, Enjoy the Violence and Signs of the Decline, they terminated their contract in 1993.They signed a new deal with the major label Phonogram. The band decided not to rehash the same songs over and over on later releases—by the time of their fourth album (1994's Sick) the band had transformed rather remarkably to a groove-laden mid-paced thrash album, sounding at times almost like recent Metallica musically, with the vocals more along the lines of a more aggressive Ron Broder of Coroner. An interesting listen, but doubtless a disappointment to early fans of the group expecting more death/thrash metal.The band broke up after guitarist Fred Duval died of skin cancer on 6 June 1997 at the age of 29. Some members of the band went on to form an industrial side project called Zero Tolerance in 1996, and released one album through Active Records.
Album:
“Signs Of The Decline” (1992) is part of a series of official re-issues of the first three classic albums by the French death/thrash legend MASSACRA.Expanded with improved artwork, remastering by Patrick W. Engel (Asphyx, Desaster, Darkthrone etc), rare & previously unreleased bonus tracks (on the CD version), extensive booklet (30x30cm LP booklet / 24 pages CD booklet) with tons of rare photos, all lyrics, and interview with original guitarist Jean-Marc Tristani!A must-have for fans of classic SEPULTURA, POSSESSED, old KREATOR, MORoffer ANGEL and simply killer raoffer & raw extreme metal!I have been a long time fan of this band. Massacra were one of the first extreme metal bands I ever got into and to this very day I consider them one of the very best.. They are kind of obscure sadly these days and I think this is wholly undeserved. In my eyes they released 3 of the very best death/thrash albums of all time. The album im reviewing here for you was the last death/thrash album they made and also my personal favorite Massacra album. The albums after this head into groove metal territory and I have to admit that I never gave those album a proper chance. The albums they made before Signs of the Decline had top notch songwriting and killer riffs but the sound of the album itself was nothing more than decent. Signs of Decline solved that issue and delivered an excellent complete package.While this album might be the most death metal album Massacra made it is definitely not a major departure from the 2 albums they made before this one.What we've got here is basically German thrash metal on overdrive mixed with primordial death metal. There are some passages that are similar to the chunky death/thrash grooving Pestilence had done on their first 2 albums. There are blistering thrash parts which can be described as way more dangerous sounding Kreator. This album also is quite similar to the material Merciless produced around the same period, except this album is a step or 2 more unhinged and reckless. Unhinged and reckless is a bad thing right? No, it is in my eyes an absolute positive trait for raging death/thrash like this. This album is a perfect example of how great a riff salad can be.The riffing is not the only positive aspect. The drums pound and smash. At times it seems like you are listening to a drum kit getting violently demolished. Frederick Duval (RIP) delivers vocals which are quite typical for the initial wave for death metal style wise. However a crucial addendum he was also one of the best vocalists of this era. He is a bit more guttural and more clearly understandable than most of his peers. Partly due to his French accent his vocals are quite recognizable.The main reason why I think this is the best Massacra album is that this is their best sounding album. The guitars have a superb tone. The drums sound punchy and angry, the vocals are at the right place mix wise. The bass provides the low end and creates very much a full sound.Signs of the Decline is basically an essential classic. Literally everything on this album is absolutely top notch. Completely Khrushchevian in terms of throwing riffs at you. Get this album in some way if you haven't done so yet and join me in mourning that we will most likely never see this band live...
Line Up:
Fred "Death" Duval - Vocals, Guitars (1986-1997) - (R.I.P. 1997) See also: ex-Zero Tolerance
Jean-Marc Trisani - Guitars (1986-1997) - See also: ex-Zero Tolerance
Pascal Jorgensen - Vocals, Bass (1986-1997)
Matthias Limmer - Drums
Tracklist:
01. Evidence of Abominations 04:00
02. Defying Man's Creation 03:39
03. Baptized in Decadence 04:27
04. Mortify Their Flesh 04:02
05. Traumatic Paralyzed Mind 03:56
06. Excruciating Commands 03:48
07. World Dies Screaming 03:22
08. Signs of the Decline 04:02
09. Civilisation in Regression 04:04
10. Full Frontal Assault 04:27
11. Gods of Hate 03:17 (Bonus Track)
12. Full of Hatred 04:43 (Bonus Track)
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