Wow, colour me impressed at how much this Texas-based band has grown since we reviewed their third album, Eyes Alive, back in 2015. There, technical metalcore with atmosphere was the order of the day, even with some Pink Floyd overtones. 

Here, first song “Eternal Dying” shows that the band has flipped the script, the Floydian atmosphere taking over front and centre, at least as the album begins. I love it, restrained and moody and mature, and it leads into the Hydra Head-ian “The Oppressor” very well, the chugging, sure, metalcore wielding a nice heft after “Eternal Dying”. I mentioned Crowpath last time and I'll mention that mighty band again, Turbid North playing with antagonistic and labyrinthine riffs much like Crowpath, while “Slaves” both grinds and grooves. “Life Over Death” loves Neurosis, which is okay, because so do I. 

I also loved when technical, angular, harsh metalcore was ruling my world, and this band brings me back to that, the slow burn promised by that opening track just laid to waste by the time this disc is in its raging midpoint, “Patients” being somewhere between Napalm Death, Keelhaul and “Tornado Of Souls”, while “The Road” brings in good melodies and an ability to write a song that just absolutely works. 

Although the record does wear on a bit, I still love the direction this band is heading in, The Decline definitely a captivating and rewarding, and extremely unique, listen.