Fumes of Decay - Devouring the Excavated (2011; Sevared Records)

At the request of an anonymous commenter here on Slam-Minded I took a look at Devouring the Excavated, a somewhat obscure album from Dutch band Fumes of Decay. It was released by Sevared, but until now I hadn't heard any talking about. Does this album deserve to be carried out of obscurity?

After a couple listens my answer is "almost". Fumes of Decay sound like a less technical Disgorge. For a long time I've thought the Europeans do Cali DM better than the Americans, but Fumes of Decay are not quite as good as the elites of the genre from either continent. What you get here are quick, pounding slams contrasted with some evil sounding tremolo riffs. Devouring the Excavated is very lively and energetic, which always positive for a slam album. So many bands, especially when the try to add complexity, end up with a half-baked boring mess. Fumes of Decay escape that here, but in the end that's all that can be said about the album.

What frustrated me most about this album was that whenever the band went in a unique and interesting direction, they quickly retreated back into average riffing. It's harder to appreciate an average album when you know the band is capable of more. Plenty of times Fumes of Decay had a great tremolo riff or a uniquely time slam, yet they would back off of it, almost as if they were afraid to experiment. This made Devouring the Excavated inconsistently great, which in my opinion is worse than consistently good.

Now this is a debut album, so Fumes of Decay have plenty of time to improve. My advice for the next album: experiment! You have the talent to do it!