Tokyo-based metal band Gods of Decay release their first full-length album, Collective Psychosis.

The musicians in the band are listed as Anna (vocals), Frost (guitar), and Yorke (bass). Regarding the new album, Anna remarks: “On this album we scattered a myriad of shards of meaningfulness lost in the abyss of absurdity of our day and age. We hid them with metaphors and double entendre and we hope that our listeners enjoy the ‘treasure hunt’ on their journey through the mesmerizingly sinister spaces that make up the world of Gods Of Decay. Seek, and ye shall find.” That tells you a little something about the band, too. The music is a modern metal amalgam.

Listening to these songs in order is like walking down the aisles of a flea market in an aging armory – there are all sorts here. “Self-Castigation” is a club music intro. In “Collective Psychosis” you can really feel the mental state fray as the song progresses. The vocal harmony, which gets regular use on the album, is a deep enhancement. “Metamorphosis” has a great groovy riff and a somewhat squealy vocal. There’s that harmony again in there, too. “Plague” starts on a rolly-polly riff with a sting plus a shock vocal. After the bracer, clean vocals propel the story on. And then the very next track is something else entirely, and on and on.

Different looks; different takes. According to the band, that is the conscious intention. Some of the music reminds me of a smoother version of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black but with considerably more polish and far greater detail in its assertions. There is a center to all of this that the galactic material orbits. You can hear it in every song. No matter how different one is to the next, you can feel that gravitational pull towards the essence of the band. That is where the cohesion comes from and why I recommend this album. It is heavy and delightfully variegated throughout.

Collective Psychosis is out now from Sliptrick Records. Give it a spin.

Links.

Website, https://www.godsofdecay.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/godsofdecay

Sliptrick Records, https://sliptrickrecords.com/gods-of-decay/