Album Reviews

Review: Fortaleza by Decadent Nation

Decadent Nation is a 4 piece from Columbia, MO. They have 3 prior releases before their newest, Fortaleza. They have released 2 EPs and an LP. The band has been around since 2005. They are new to me so I’m not familiar with past material but the current material is pretty damn good.

The band’s Facebook page describes their music as Blues-Based-Trip-Thrash. You’re probably thinking “huh?” Don’t worry, I said the same thing. To break it down, Decadent Nation plays blues based hard rock and roll. At times there’s a sense of thrash, some heavy metal, post rock, and of course, blues rock.

Fortalez‘s main sound is that of post rock. It is radio friendly rock although some of the tracks may be a bit to much for radio. The heavy metal elements give it that kick it needs to set it apart from the boring crap that is found on the radio. If given the chance, Fortaleza would stand tall on the charts. Even though there are some heavy metal elements, this isn’t a heavy metal album. Sure some songs are a bit rougher than others. “Revelry,” which closes the album, is one of the heavier songs. “Welcome To,” the album’s opening song, is an instrumental song which is a mix of post rock and a little prog rock. “Mask Of Anarchy” has a little Rage Against The Machine feel to it. It’s the way the vocals come out. It’s sung but feels more spoken word. It’s not rap rock like Rage though. “Dan Boone Stomp” has a nice fuzzy tone to it that, at times, reminds me a little bit of Clutch.

The album can be a bit all over in terms of style, the band seems to have set some boundaries and stay within them. They do a great job at it. Fortaleza is an enjoyable album. I like the change up in styles from song to song. It keeps the album from being boring and being the same song from start to finish. This is an album that you’ll want to add to your collection. There’s one thing I can say after a few listens, I liked it enough that I’ll be looking into obtaining the band’s back catalog. Check out a few songs the band has on their Reverbnation page (link below) to get an idea. The album will be out real soon so find them on Facebook and find out how to get your own copy.