Nervous Decay – Nervous Decay

Nantes based Nervous Decay have been playing their particular cacophony of old school death metal since 2017 and from that point have squeezed out a demo, a single and this debut album. The debut album features the same tracks that were present on the demo and the single, but so often bands do this so that their original, battle tested tunes can benefit from the improved care and attention that comes from a properly produced full length album. Having listened to some of their older recordings I’m not fully convinced that’s what has happened here.

What Nervous Decay do well is upfront, balls to the wall death metal. The first track ‘Cerberus Brace’ has an acoustic opening that leads into a break neck death thrash song and Chuck Schuldiner-esque wail that is exactly what the doctor ordered for most fans of the genre. The chainsaw guitars and quivering leads work particularly well on ‘Mirrors Of Pain’, and ‘Shield Of Delusion’ has an atmospheric opening that brings to mind "Soulless" era Grave. There are no pretensions here, this is straight up thrash infused old school death metal that is well played and composed, but it is hampered by some glaring faults.

First and foremost the bass sound on this record is appalling, bringing to mind rubber bands twanging loosely across a wet cardboard box. Just to be clear, the playing is fine, but the sound and how high it is in the mix really makes you question the production. Add to that the regular use of samples, seemingly for comedic value, only serves to annoy rather than amuse. The samples are overly long, aggravating and, in the case of the title track, cringe inducingly terrible. This also contributes to another issue; track length. With virtually every track on this album clocking in at above five minutes, many at six and a half, everything out stays its welcome by a considerable margin. I frequently found myself waiting for tracks to end, rather than wondering where they might go next.

Nervous Decay are a young band with a lot of potential. With some fine tuning, improved production and perhaps a focus on keeping things a little more tight and concise they could be great. As of right now they are a decent death metal band who have released a serviceable record that is a single drop of blood in a vast ocean of festering entrails.

2 / 5 STARS


1. Cerberus Brace
2. Daily Poison
3. Mirrors Of Pain
4. Nervous Decay
5. Shield Of Delusion
6. Doomsday Clock
7. Lobotomy