VICIOUS RUMORS — Celebration Decay (review)

VICIOUS RUMORS — Celebration Decay album cover Album · 2020 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Nightfly
I’ve been a fan of Vicious Rumors since their eponymous third album released back in 1990, an album they still haven’t bettered to this day by the way. This was not only down to a great collection of songs but the vocal prowess of the sadly deceased Carl Albert who died in a car crash in 1995. The band have continued to release well played US power metal albums adopting the if it ain’t broke don’t fix it approach apart from a diversion into a more groove metal direction in the late nineties.

Celebration Decay is the bands thirteenth studio album and not surprisingly follows the same template as the last few albums with the usual mixture of up and mid-tempo metal and the occasional plodder. Here though the balance lies more towards the mid-tempo which to be honest is not always to the albums benefit as Vicious Rumors are usually at their best when flying at full pelt. Any Last Words is one of the better mid-paced songs however with a strong hook and a riff that is very reminiscent of another of the bands songs that I annoyingly can’t currently put my finger on. There are some great songs such as Arrival Of Desolation with its galloping riff and rhythm section, something the band seem to do on most albums, there’s the opening title track which is one of the faster songs here. The album seems to run out of steam a bit at times though with the forgettable Darkness Divine being a prime example, not bad by any means, but lacking a memorable hook and guitarist Geoff Thorpe takes over on lead vocals who despite being a fine guitarist is no more than a passable vocalist. It’s followed by the equally plodding Long Way Home. Talking of vocals, since the death of Carl Albert the band seem to have struggled to find a lasting replacement changing vocalists almost every album. The latest recruit is Nick Courtney who whilst having a decent set of pipes struggles to inject much in the way of melody into his performance, something Albert always did, even against the hardest of riffs.

Collision Course Disaster is very welcome as by the time it arrives it’s the first fast song we’ve had for some time. It also boasts one of the albums strongest set of riffs. The album also goes out on a faster note with Masquerade Of Good Intentions.

Celebration Decay is a decent enough album but it’s the bands weakest of the last five, the best being 2011’s Razorback Killers if you’re interested. That’s a shame as the band is usually fairly consistent with releasing strong albums. Nevertheless it’s good to have them back and I’m confident that Vicious Rumors still have great albums in them and next time we’ll have something as good as their last, Concussion Protocol.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed