Decay (album)

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Decay
Studio album by Eisregen

Publication
(s)

1998

Label (s) Last episode

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

Dark metal

Title (number)

9

running time

38:27

occupation
  • Singing : Michael "Blutkehle" Roth
  • Guitar : Michael "Bursche" Lenz
  • Drums : Ronny "Yantit" Fimmel

Studio (s)

Frost Studio

chronology
Fleischhaus (7 "single)
(1997) 		Decay Cancer Colony
(1998)

Zerfall is the first album by the Thuringian dark metal band Eisregen . On this album, the band was still based on Black Metal in terms of sound and style ; Elements like viola and clear vocals only appeared on the following albums. Roth's voice still consists mostly of screeching, partly also growls.

History of origin

The album came out in April 1998, but the release was delayed a little. The response to the album was relatively positive, even if the production quality was somewhat criticized. According to Roth's own statement, however, he was never entirely satisfied with the debut album :

“On the one hand, as I said, from the production point of view, and the material just wasn't what it should have been. But I think it's the same with every album. The timing of production is crucial and back then we were fully behind it. But there were some points to improve, which we also did on the new album. "

- Michael Roth : in an interview on decay

In the same year, the follow-up album Krebskolonie appeared on the market, where Theresa "2T" Trenks had now joined, who musically expanded the band with the viola.

Track list

  1. ... and the wind blows so cold over everything (Pest I) - 6:39
  2. Legend of Sorrows (Plague II) - 4:30
  3. In the Pit (Pest III) - 3:23
  4. Resurrection (Plague IV) - 4:42
  5. I am many - 2:26
  6. Ice Palace - 3:25
  7. Ode to decline - 1:29
  8. Heart's Blood - 5:54
  9. End time - 5:19

Subject

The core of the album is the four-part plague cycle, which is set in the Middle Ages. The main character is a young man from a wealthy family when the plague hits the city. In just a few weeks, the population shrinks significantly due to the black death, until it only consists of around 100 people. The protagonist's parents also die; shortly before she dies, the mother is no longer able to recognize her own son. He now sees that all the wealth is no longer useful and decides to get drunk and wait for death. The new plague doctor who comes to the city, however, takes advantage of the helplessness of the people and plunders the city with his henchmen, where they also come to the house of the protagonist. Like the other survivors, he was brutally knocked down and thrown to the dead on the plague cart, which was brought to the pits. In the plague pit, where a few others are lying alive among the corpses, he slowly dies and feels the plague taking hold of him. The last thing he gets is a cold light that appears before his eyes. After a while, however, he digs his way out of the plague pit as the undead and goes to the town hall at night, where he slaughters the entire city administration in revenge and then returns to the pit to become one with the "harvest of the plague".

The cycle was not focused on the plague itself, but rather on the resurrection , but Roth moved the plot to the time of the Middle Ages, as it would fit thematically better. The cycle aims to show how defenseless people are exposed to the plague.

The song "I am many" is about the demon Legion , which comes from the New Testament . In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus meets a man who is possessed and drives out demons. When asked what his name is, the obsessed replies "Legion, because we are many".

"Ode to decline" is about hatred and decay, whereby, similar to later in "For you who live" on the cancer colony , the song is written from the perspective of a higher being:

"Worship me
because one day I will open the gates
for mine is eternity
Mine is the kingdom
And the decline of bliss
on earth"

- "Ode to decline"

In addition, Christianity is portrayed in the song in an extremely negative - and even robbing way, Jesus himself is also referred to as a bastard , from whom one should turn away if one wants to experience true strength.

Presentation

The cover drawing shows a misty forest with leafless trees on a moonlit night. A skeleton is hanging on a rope from a tree and another person who is still alive has crawled on the top of the tree, hands over his mouth in a look of horror. The booklet of the original release from 1998 contains photos of the band and production notes as well as the lyrics of all songs, the re-release only shows the band photos and a logo of the Klangkreis Thuringia.

Trivia

  • “In honor of my dark queen” already existed by name on the demo Mysteries of the Night , as well as “Ode to the decline”, which, however, consisted of two parts there. However, it is unclear whether the texts of the original versions and the later versions are identical.
  • "Eispalast", "Ode to the decline" and "Herzblut" are new recordings from the demo Das Ende des Weges .
  • Another new recording of "Herzblut" can be found at the single meat festival .
  • “In der Grube (Pest III)” is also part of the band's live set and can be found on the Hexenhaus single in 2005 as a new studio recording called “In der Grube 2005”, where Roth now alternates between growling and clear vocals.

Demo: The end of the road

In 2004 the album was re-released as bonus tracks along with the demo Das Ende des Weges .

  1. Unison - 0:13
  2. Blood is Life - 2:11
  3. Ice Palace - 3:34
  4. Turning point - 3:50
  5. Heart and soul - 6:56
  6. Nothing is forever - 6:00
  7. Ode to decline - 2:11
  8. In honor of my dark queen - 3:45
  9. I am the gate - 7:11
  10. The end - 0:07

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ vampster.com: Interview with Michael Roth