Review by Greg on January 2, 2024.

I was expecting a great album with Havok's latest effort, Conformicide, even just reading the first reviewers drooling over the alleged best album of 2017. Not that I love them, they have to follow too many others in the race to satisfy my personal tastes, but I can recognize their potential on, to say, Time Is Up. After a quick look at the song titles and their length, it was clear they were aiming for a fourth album that could be something more than your average revival thrash record. They never focused on politics this much before, and the 1984-inspired fifth track, titled 'Ingsoc', only accentuated the overall aura of 'there's someone controlling our lives without our knowledge'. In retrospect, this last aspect could have been enough to make me avoid this, but I gave it a chance anyways.

I have to say the cover art is very coherent with the actual content of the album: it may be a pretty intriguing concept to some, but not adequately developed. This leads to the well-known main problem of Conformicide: the lyrics. If the background idea somehow attracted you, the superficiality which it's treated with is appalling, as pointed out by every reviewer on here. At times it borders on ridiculous, like on 'Wake Up' or on the opener 'F.P.C.' (seriously?), or in the sampled intro to 'Intention to Deceive'; but, as a Catholic myself, I can't help but saying that also anti-religious songs on here are pretty confusing. For instance, take a look at these lines, taken from 'Dogmaniacal' (what's wrong with these titles?):

It doesn't matter to you
That he's a power-tripping maniac
'Cause he's got you convinced
People of other faiths should be attacked

God wants you to obliterate your neighbor
If he does not think like you
Take a look at any holy book
And it's crystal clear it's true

Weren't we talking about Catholicism? I've never heard of the Bible commanding to attack people who follow other religions... perhaps you are messing up creeds a bit (as suggested also by 'Claiming Certainty', where Allah replaces God in the last chorus). I've had definitely more fun reading Sarcófago lyrics. However, the score of this review wouldn't be so low if it was the only problem. Insufficient lyrics do not prevent from making good music, otherwise those bands which doesn't have English as their native language would not deserve to be listened, right? Well... in this case the two things go arm in arm, since Conformicide is a long, burdensome album which finds itself struggling continuously to capture the listener's interest. Technically speaking, it's an instrumentally excellent effort: take the impressive basslines (courtesy of new member Nick Schendzielos) on the opener and the final track, or the central blast-beat outburst on 'Intention to Deceive', everything it's perfectly executed, but ultimately it ends up being way more boring than it should be. Thus, nearly anything managed to stick inside my head; and I tried, believe me, since at first I thought it was my fault for not getting it, probably because of my addiction to high-speed metal. Then negative reviews started to spill over this site, and I started feeling less alone.

The series of things not working here includes also the vocals by David Sanchez, always based upon his trademark shrieks, nevertheless resulting like a foreign body if laid upon this soundtrack. Simply, he isn't the right man to carry (or better, to save) this album, and his monotony ends up increasing the total weight upon the listener, which will get tired in a matter of a couple of songs (you can choose which ones you want). Say what you want about the so-hated Evile, but Matt Drake would have suited definitely better most of the music. I feel the only song I can have liked is 'Hang 'em High', even just for that 'the enemy is not coming from overseas' pre-chorus part, but a better refrain should have followed it, and I've never felt urged to listen to it again after all this time. Nevertheless 'Masterplan' and mostly 'Circling the Drain' are enjoyable too, and 'Claiming Certainty' is at least shorter than 4 minutes – the only lucky enough song, censoring that Pantera cover at the end.

The new Rust in Peace? I admit I never really loved Megadeth, but I guess everyone with a brain can find this comparison completely unsubstantiated (except for that Mustaine imitation in the verse of 'Circling the Drain', but that's it), and it sets the expectations about Conformicide even higher, only to mercilessly crush them. Yes, Havok have grown up, yet becoming adults almost incapable of having fun, as this album contains some of the coldest, most lifeless thrash you'll find these days. Well, albeit the course of time showed that there are many other valid bands in the scene, I hope they will consider the idea of making a step back and discard this poor attempt at creating something they are clearly not capable of. See ya next time, guys.

Rating: 3.2 out of 10

Review by Felix on February 8, 2020.

Maybe I am wrong, but this album cannot be labelled as heavy metal. It has not much in common with the works of bands such as Mystic Prophecy or Grand Magus that represent different facets of modern heavy metal. Aesthetics of Decay gives a home to fanatic speed / thrash hybrids. In terms of quality and more or less in terms of style, their songs stand in the tradition of many Artillery tracks and that's pretty stunning. Already the first two tracks enrich the Danish thrash treasury in view of their absolutely energizing, straightforward and restless approach. Obviously, Steel Inferno did not join the scene in order to hide their light under the bushel. Come on, try to be not infused by the effervescent "City Lights" when listening to this irresistible killer for the first time. Attempt to stay apathetically while being confronted with the devastating title track. Its heavyweight guitars, its rapid rhythms and the tinge of oriental harmonies at the beginning that seems to hail Artillery's "Khomaniac" - all these details make clear that resistance is futile. This song provides evidence that passiveness and indolence can be destroyed in a matter of seconds. Believe me, I thought Steel Inferno are just another interesting newcomer, but what the hell is happening here?

The quintet is able to create this infectious element that draws the listener into their songs. Sometimes stomping, sometimes swift as an arrow, the songs score with many exciting ingredients. The riffs do not lack sharpness, the feminine vocals of Karen bring Dawn Crosby back to my mind, although Karen is much more flexible, and the punk element of Détente is missing. Unlike some of her female colleagues, Karen sounds like a real woman every now and then - little joke... She does not imitate the diabolic nagging of Sabina Classen and she cannot be compared with the ridiculous elves of all these fairly terrible "beauty-and-the-beast" albums. It remains a mystery why she is not responsible for the lead vocals of the fourth track, because her approach reflects strength and self-confidence in a pretty natural way, and this is something I like very much. As long as girls are happy to be girls and boys are happy to be boys, the world has a good perspective.

All songs have a logical configuration with edges and corners and wallow in their own heavy fundament. There are absolutely no details that indicate any form of half-heartedness. "Merciful Slayer" hails the speed and thrash heroes again with its straight, direct and fast pattern. Both its flattening riffing during the instrumental part and the formative velocity explain why the thrash metal kings of the mid-eighties show up in the song title. By contrast, tracks like "Defender of the Old Ways" or "Dismantling Fixed Positions" rather underline the traditional side of the group. Okay, the band members wear shirts of Thin Lizzy, Sortilège and Judas ("Screaming for Vengeance"), but don't be fooled by these textiles. The pretty massive sound of Aesthetics of Decay pulverizes the works of these veterans. It presses the listener against the wall, albeit the bass guitar has to struggle in order to be heard. Yet apart from this minor detail, the mix is well balanced. It does not only set the right frame for the almost apocalyptic riffing of "Flashing Reality", another sharp and thrash-affine eruption with great lyrics about "entertainment grown from the lowest common denominator". The production does justice to all tracks, to the speedy eruptions as well as to the mid-tempo-based monsters.

The vinyl edition does not contain the cover version and the running order of the tracks is slightly different. Frankly spoken, a missing cover is mostly the best cover one can get. Anyway, this is the first full-length of a talented, robust and assertive formation. Steel Inferno, the name might not be the child of a creative flash, have proven that they can provide a breath of fresh air for a scene that sometimes is in danger to lose its energetic appearance. Their song formula combines vehemence with the necessary quantum of melodies and all ten pieces hit the target. I want more and, of course, my advice is to check this album as soon as possible.

Rating: 9 out of 10