Winds of Creation caught the death metal world by surprise. Four guys, some barely old enough to legally buy cigarettes, managed to create a very impressive debut and a damn fine death metal album with the talent and experience of a much more experienced band. Nihility was a display of the cold, yet massive technical ability that the band possessed. It also had one of the best songs the band has ever written (or any modern death metal band for that matter), in the massively groovy, aggressive live favorite: Spheres of Madness. Many consider their third album, The Negation, to be their best work, and the consistently excellent quality of that album provides a strong base for that opinion.

However, Organic Hallucisnosis was a change of pace for the band in more ways than one. First, it was the only time the original lineup had changed, with vocalist Sauron being replaced by the less guttural, but more intelligible Covan. Anyone familiar with the stylistic differences of Cryptopsy’s main vocalists, Lord Worm and Mike DiSalvo should be able to see the similarities in the position swaps. Also, the band as a whole toned down their calculated tech assault in favor of a more mechanical, forthright attack.

Poem About an Old Prison Man is an absolutely great intro track, beginning with blasting drums, riffs that build themselves up; all of which soon get released in a fury of headbanging ferocity. The perpetually pissed vocal style that Covan brings even more brutality to the table. This song reminds me a bit of Spheres of Madness; showing how strong the band can be if they slow down a bit at the right time. Day 69 is another great track, showing a sense of tension and release, rather than the constant tension found in some of their older work. The drumming of Vitek really shines here. His tempo shifts keep the song interesting, and his drum solo, although short lived, is more than impressive and manages to fit within the song seamlessly.

Revelation of Existence and Flash-B(l)ack are similar with the opening track in their forthright aggression. The former is probably the grooviest, most accessible song on the album, using a slithering solo to make things even more interesting. Post(?)Organic contains some of the best riffs and tightest drumming that the band has offered the public. The way the frenetic riff works together with the drumming creates a sense of uneasiness, the chorus of fury being released, and the riff towards the end sounds like something is about to meet it’s gruesome fate. Definitely blast this track as loud as possible, and get back to me if you don’t feel the hairs raising on the back of your neck. Visual Delusion just never seems to leave an impression on me like the other tracks did, and is definitely the weak point of the album. Luckily, that problem is rectified with a closing track that rivals the intro as far as quality, groove, and sheer intensity.

The men of Decapitated have made it quite clear that they know how to play the shit out of their instruments. With three quality death metal albums under their belt, they don’t really need to impress anyone with speed or complexity. Granted, they do play quite fast at times on this album, and some of the riffs leave me wondering why I ever thought I could play this crazy type of music at a competitive level, but this release is a great example of how to be experimental, without letting the song quality suffer, or your credibility begin to wane.

Overall, this album has a more organic and unstable feel than the “look-at-how-fast-we-are-doing-what-we’re-doing"-fest that was shown on Nihility.The production is cold and clean, and it is an important release for Decapitated. One of the best releases of 2006, it manages to offer a more interesting sound than many other modern death metal bands out there. Even the short length of the album seems to fit in the overall picture, making this a very worthwhile purchase for death metal fans.

Note: Below is the video for "Day 69." In time the video may become outdated and fail to play.