Review by Sonny for Dekapited - Contra iglesia y estado (2011)

Dekapited are a four-piece thrash band from Santiago, Chile who formed in 2006. This 2011 EP marked the band's debut release, following on from three demos, one from each of the preceeding three years. The EP features five tracks and an intro with a 21 minute runtime. I have constantly been heard espousing the merits of chilean thrash metal and these guys are deservedly one of the beneficiaries of my effusive praise over the past few years.

Taking their cues from deathly thrashers of the late 80s and early 90s such as Demolition Hammer, Dekapited tread a path that will be familiar to anyone who has any knowledge of the 21st century South America thrash scene, especially as it manifests in the chilean capital and it's surrounding areas. This small area has kept the thrash metal flag flying through what has been a lean time for the genre by incorporating aspects of extreme metal, usually black or, as is in Dekapited's case, death metal. This is nothing new of course, but I believe that because there is an actual vibrant and lively thrash scene centred around Santiago and Valpairiso, then the bands, including Dekapited, who are part of that scene, feed off each other and consequently produce metal that sounds more vital and energetic than the thrash that is being produced by more isolated practitioners. It is no coincidence that a lot of the metal world's greatest material has come from clearly defined scenes, such as the NWOBHM, the Bay Area thrashers, Florida death metal and the scandinavian black metal scenes. There is a fair bit of cross-pollination in the chilean scene with many musicians being members of several bands concurrently, allowing a flow of ideas between these bands, but an integrated scene also sees bands pushing each other to new heights as each tries to outdo their peers, which can only be good news for the fans.

Dekapited play at an almost unrelentingly quick pace. This is energetic stuff that is meant to get fans moving and feed those mosh pits with hurtling bodies. The riffs are the stuff of the classic Bay Area thrashers, loaded with hooks aplenty and being memorable enough to remain in your head long after the EP has ended. It is almost impossible to listen to this as a thrash metal fan and not to feel your head starting to nod along with most of those riffs. The guitar solos are fairly noteworthy, being more expansive than the Kerry King-derived howls that so many of the more extreme thrash acts aspire to, being more in keeping with a classic metal style of soloing. They aren't exactly birthed in neoclassical metal, but they are a bit more imaginative than the short-sharp shock of the more usual Slayerisms.

The rhythm section is decidedly capable and underpin the riffs admirably, drummer Raul Guevara displaying the chops to maintain such a high velocity assault with power and precision. He may not indulge in a lot of the fancy fills that some of his contemporaries flourish, but his is a very solid performance. Bassist Alonso Friend likewise does a great job providing a rumbling foundation for the two guitarists to perform their six-string acrobatics. A trait which is peculiar to the chilean scene specifically is for the bass to sit quite prominently in the mix, but here it is mixed much more traditionally and less conspicuously.

For me, this was a nice calling card for a pretty talented bunch of guys who could take what originally made thrash metal so great and transpose it into the modern day with just enough of an extreme metal twist to imbue it with an energy and vitality that renders it so much more relevant than a mere harking back to earlier times.