Decapitated rank amongst the main exponents of modern, groovy and polyrhythmic death metal. Founded in 1996 by three Poles in their early to mid-teens, Decapitated’s debut ‘Winds of Creation’ was credited with reinvigorating a struggling death metal scene. On ‘Organic Hallucinosis’ (2006) they changed musical directions by focusing on more complex song structures and a polyrhythmic approach. The following year disaster struck when a serious road accident killed drummer and founding member Vitek Kieltyka and paralysed singer Covan Kowanek but in 2009 Waclaw ‘Vogg’ Kieltyka revived the band with a new line-up. With 2017’s ‘Anticult’, the Polish death metal machine dropped their third full-length effort since the 2009 resurrection. Instead of a return to ‘Winds of Creation’ or ‘The Negation’, the album continues in the same vein as its predecessors ‘Carnival Is Forever’ and ‘Blood Mantra’ with a more modern and groovy sound. ‘Cancer Culture’ (2022) is the first album featuring new drummer James Stewart and serves up a collection of tracks that further perfect the hybrid of groove and riff-driven traditional death metal they’ve forged over the last decade. (#GMM26)
