Wretched - Decay - Metal Epidemic

Wretched – Decay
Release Date: 17th October 2025
Label: Metal Blade
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Thrash, Groove Metal.
FFO: The Black Dahlia Murder, Gojira, Inferi, Alluvial, Fallujah.
Review By: Mark Young

From Charlotte, North Carolina comes Wretched, formed back in 2005 and following 4 albums with Victory Records they now drop their 5^th full length release courtesy of those exceptional folks at Metal Blade for your delight and delectation. With an accompanying bio that avoids the usual grand statements for how their music will change everything, I’m quite looking forward to settling down and giving this the attention it deserves.

Decay is the sound of a band that is starting a new chapter and have done so, bringing all of their experience to it. I think that the labels attached don’t really paint the full picture of what to expect from them. Decay starts off with its title track, tracking along a crawling tempo but filled with a fiendish earworm of a melody line. It’s an early indication of how they can move through the relative gears from the melodic into the more abrasive part of their sound. It takes a dive into tightly packed riffs and machine gun double bass drums. Putting the two aspects together isn’t new, but when it’s done well like it is here, it provides a strong start. It’s one that is bolstered by Malus Incarnate with guitar lines that are twisted, moving from conventional shapes and measures. It’s a great counterpoint to the starting track, and they continue this run with The Royal Body. Of the three they share traits, things that are recognisable, but they do it differently each time round. The Royal Body has this great riff/melodic part that doesn’t forget that it needs to be heavy and to move. It’s that approach that they are able to deploy with great success throughout, and I’d point you in the direction of Radiance for a prime example of this. Starting off in a frenzy, they mix that speed up and down so in those slower sections the guitars hit hard. The lead/rhythm break that runs around 2.40 or so brings in an eastern tinge that pays off the build-up to it. It’s just something that they seem to be able to do with ease. Clairvoyance represents a change in direction, a kind of spaghetti western thing that sprawls along at its own pace. It’s fine for what it is, but does take some of the spark out of things. This Mortal Line doesn’t help with that, 3 minutes or so of a choir of sorts that doesn’t go anywhere.

They follow this up with the 16-minute instrumental Behind the Glass. Taken on its own, as a piece of music, it’s great. They manage to make it relatively interesting as an expression of themselves, but I think with this and This Mortal Line it takes a lot of the sting of this album away and leaves them with work to do in getting my energy up again. Lights goes on the front foot to get things moving again and does so with some deft guitar work and pummelling drums, whilst The Golden Tide has an expansive arrangement, one that is super tight in its execution and one that has push to it that keeps you engaged. The pair have gone a long way to get things going again and is joined by Blackout, which does that thing again of combining light and dark guitar work, of bringing melody and heavy riffs with an arrangement that gradually builds up and then snaps as it turns through 90 degrees and goes practically monolithic, going full on with a beat down before they pull back once more. Handled brilliantly, it sets them up for their last statement, The Golden Skyway. It’s reminiscent of its title, a measure that swings along at a leisurely pace and brings along a scorching lead break to boot. Is it the thrilling climax I wanted, well not really and in all honesty had they stopped on Blackout then for me the album would have closed in a better position. I appreciate that I have a problem with instrumental tracks, and on here I probably would have dug Behind the Glass more had it been half its length, but there you go. As an album it’s a very good album, and points to their next phase as being a very productive one too!