Band:	Lifelover
Album:	Dekadens
Style:	Post-punk, Depressive black metal
Release date:	September 30, 2009
A review by:	Lucas

01. Luguber Framtid
02. Myspys
03. Major Fuck Off
04. Lethargy
05. Androider
06. Visdomsord
07. Destination: Ingenstans

Old farts will hate me, young whipper snapper, for saying this, but I really do think the last decade has been great for metal. Yeah, it brought us Nu metal, Metalcore and Deathcore and all that, but if you only see that that means you're looking in the wrong places anyway. The extreme side of the metal spectrum, and I'm mostly aiming at Black and Doom here, has seen and still sees a giant boost in bands. A quantitative boost primarily perhaps, but a boost that brought quality too. A lot of bands experimented and that's a very, very healthy development.

One of these experimental bands is the Swedish Lifelover. Dekadens is, nout counting the promo, the fourth release of this sickening band and the first 'extended play'. Seven tracks, twenty-six minutes, one aim. Hymning the degeneration of the human race.

In short: Dekadens does not differ much from the previous releases. Its sound is a little brighter than the gloomy Konkurs and the narcotic Erotik, so you could describe it as a return of the 'happy', 'jumpy' sound of Pulver, but that is not true in all respects. While Pulver is indeed the release that is most similar to Dekadens, Dekadens is both heavier and jitterier. In depth: well, how far 'in depth' can you go with Lifelover? No offence to the Swedish sickening five, but their music is pretty shallow, despite the ever present undercurrents of degeneration, misery, drugs and decadence. The phrase 'a Britpop interpretation of disturbed Black metal' still very much applies. The catchy yet distorted riffs, the warm vocals and the shrieks, the excessive use of cymbals, the message of disgust wrapped in overly poppish tunes - hell yeah, Lifelover is back in business!

After Pulver, Erotik and Konkurs, Dekadens is the logical next step. In fact, if I wanted to rip this band apart, I'd say most of their songs are (despite a few differences in mood here and there) interchangeable among each other and among all of their releases. But I do not want to rip this band apart. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I thoroughly enjoy their stuff. It's just too catchy, twisted and maniacal to pass by. Destination: Nowhere.