Angry Metal Guy
Québec has long been a region synonymous with uncompromising death metal, with stacks of excellent bands bleeding from its fertile cemetery grounds. Débutants Décryptal emerge from said land, unveiling their first full-length entitled Simulacre after just one prior demo. This release arrives with the promise of a sound steeped in French Canada’s murky traditions, plundering tombs and raiding caverns alike. But in a scene so replete with bands treading the same territory, is Simulacre able to carve out its own grave?
Simulacre fits neatly – if powerfully – into the cavernous style of death metal, exemplifying the new school of the old school. In this way, Décryptal strongly recall Phrenelith. Everything about the album is bruising. From the burly guitar grooves to the battering drums, to the guttural growls, to the meaty production, it feels like proper death metal. It prioritizes fat rhythms above shredding melodies, with the chunky guitars, bass, and drums offering a thunderous accompaniment to everything that happens. And even if the riffs and performances already conveyed the sense of a pungent vaulted cave system, the production wraps all this into something pitch-black and haunting. I love how the rounded drums, thumping bass, and jagged guitar edges create a void of hope.
Besides the album’s overall aesthetic and the atmospheric production, it’s hard to argue that Simulacre’s strongest quality isn’t its guitar leads. The release is stuffed full of undeniable riffs. My highlight is the passage from 3:20 on “Horde d’Invertébrés” or “Dendrites.” I’m unclear which, because these two tracks are the same on my review copy, leaving me to assume that there’s also a corresponding track missing. In either case, the riff checks every box I want a death metal riff to check: groovy, meaty, driving, and headbangable. The guy who wrote it deserves to dine out on its quality for a substantial period. Likewise, the lead that commences at 1:10 on “Flétrissement” offers a compelling blend of bludgeoning brutality and scything sharpness. Though Décryptal like to smash more than they like to slice, they’re capable of swapping their hammers for knives when the situation demands it. And while things never descend into Incantation death/doom territory, the band also enjoys slowing the tempo into passages with thick, doomy leads (“Zisurru,” for example).
You may question where Simulacre falters. The songs are consistently good, but also feel like they are constituted from various great riffs haphazardly arranged. Décryptal don’t sound as if they were especially focused on meaningful, coherent song construction. You can hit play from anywhere throughout and immediately have fun, but you could also switch around many passages without feeling like much has changed. This undermines the album as a unique art form, intended as a deliberate arrangement of songs in a particular order. This is compounded by the songwriting, which is robust but predictable. There are no surprises here as everything is exactly what you expect it to be. Variety, or moments of true inspiration, are thin on the ground. Part of this sense that there’s little to truly stand out is that the shredding guitar solos are relatively buried compared with the punchy rhythms. I understand that the band is plumping for a thick, murky tone, but louder solos would help to break up the songs if they were mixed higher.
Dissecting Simulacre exposes a Décryptal that’s already brushing up against the bands that influence them; though it may not be as innovative or exciting as those bands once were, it’s a remarkably good execution of cavern-core death metal. While stylistically brutal, there’s no shortage of technicality; it’s just that the band rightly prioritizes power above showmanship. Simulacre isn’t perfect, but could be the start of a Very Good Thing.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Me Saco Un Ojo Records
Websites: decryptal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/decryptal
Releases Worldwide: July 11th, 2025
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Mon Jul 07 17:03:40 GMT 2025