Review by Carl on December 24, 2022.

A good while ago I wrote a review for the band Decaying Flesh from Indonesia, and as it turns out they do not only have a Decaying Flesh there, but also a band called Decayed Flesh. If that isn't a cheap-ass excuse to write a review for the latter, I don't know what is, so let's get this show on the road, I say!

Like most brutal death metal bands from the country of Indonesia (and it seems like they have a veritable plague of those over there), Decayed Flesh know what they are doing. Perhaps not overly original and somewhat lacking a face of their own, they do know how to deliver the goods in style, though. Stylistically, Decayed Flesh remind me of bands such as Kraanium, Guttural Secrete and Korpse (the Dutch one), also combining blasting ferocity and bludgeoning groove, but with a sort of old school vibe to it. Listening to their debut full length, it struck me that their compositions are well thought-out and varied, with tight musicianship across the board. The down-tuned riffing is a good deal above average, and has me thinking of the first albums of Malevolent Creation and Cannibal Corpse more than once. The guttural lead vocals are backed up by some excellent scraping backings, and combined with the bludgeoning music they form a way above average monolith of brutal death metal. It's a monolith that has me thinking "where have I heard this before?" throughout, but the sheer power and excellent musicianship wipe away any trace of doubt one might have concerning their intentions. Lack of originality has seldom bothered me, and with brutality as intense as on this album, who cares anyway?

It has to be mentioned that the production on this album is good too. Not as dense as is the case with a lot of brutal death metal bands, it allows the vocals and guitars the space to breathe, making the overall sound more transparent and open. That makes it all the more a shame that the drums came out sounding somewhat lacklustre and lifeless. If those had sounded fuller, it would have made this album that bit more vicious. You can't win them all, I guess.

This is an excellent dose of modern brutal death that may not be the most original out there, but taken at face value, this is a banger to be reckoned with. From all of the brutal death metal bands from Indonesia I have heard so far, Decayed Flesh are among the better ones, and keeping in mind the insane quality of most of them, that's saying something.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on July 23, 2023.

It's a rare thing to come across a band that properly fuses epic black metal with power metal, with known examples being Bal-Sagoth, Númenor and Stormlord. The familiar trait of such bands is the common use of epic fantasy as the main lyrical theme, but in most cases it's usually something to do with Tolkien's literature or even George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice saga, which for some listeners might be a bit too redundant and rather anticlimactic, especially if they're looking for something that's not Middle-earth or Game of Thrones related. However, Enchanted Sword from Serbia is a different story. Their fantasy concept is completely unique and has nothing to do with either of the mentioned writers, which you can read all about on their official Bandcamp page. Their debut EP Chapter 1: Hero Reborn is here to tell the story of their warrior's path and his epic battles.

The EP starts with the track 'Path Of Solitude', which begins with a neoclassical keyboard part before kicking off with aggressive guitar playing and blast beat drumming. From here on, there are a plenty of riffs that switch from slow mid tempo to faster guitar parts, with an instance of galloping on the track 'Of Dragons And Magick'. Songs also have a wide range of leads and neoclassical solos on top of these riffs, double bass drumming and blast beats on tracks 'Path Of Solitude' and 'Against The Nightly Serpent', with Volkh's harsh singing along with clean back vocals on choruses. The only song in particular that stands out from the rest is the final track 'Ruins Of Arcadia', due to not having any black metal elements or Volkh's harsh vocals. The song is very classical symphonic power metal in similar vein of bands like Rhapsody and Edguy, consisted of clean singing along with female vocals by Dragica Maletić, with double bass drumming and palm muted riffs with neoclassical solos. This song isn't bad by any means, but it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the EP and it feels like a whole other band completely. The other issue that I have beside the final track are the leads and solos, which sound a lot like MIDI guitars. These leads and solos do fit well with the riffs and vocals, but production-wise it's very hard to look past the fact that they sound programmed and not played on actual guitars.

Beside a few issues that were mentioned above, I still find this a rather interesting and well thought EP. Sure it's far from perfect but at least it's a solid start for a new band that managed to fuse black and power metal, which is quite unheard of in the Serbian metal scene, other than Númenor being the primary example of such songwriting. I was quite surprised and a bit skeptical at first when I heard that Volkh and Ivan Radnić joined forces in creating a music that would have its own unique fantasy arc. Luckily, the doubt was finally put to rest when I heard Chapter 1: Hero Reborn EP when it came out, it was surprising as it was thrilling to listen to it for the first time, especially when I heard the songs 'Path Of Solitude', 'Warrior’s Path' and 'Of Dragons And Magick' which still to this day sound amazing. If you're fan of bands like Númenor and Bal-Sagoth, but you haven't checked out Enchanted Sword, I highly suggest you do.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on July 23, 2023.

It's a rare thing to come across a band that properly fuses epic black metal with power metal, with known examples being Bal-Sagoth, Númenor and Stormlord. The familiar trait of such bands is the common use of epic fantasy as the main lyrical theme, but in most cases it's usually something to do with Tolkien's literature or even George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice saga, which for some listeners might be a bit too redundant and rather anticlimactic, especially if they're looking for something that's not Middle-earth or Game of Thrones related. However, Enchanted Sword from Serbia is a different story. Their fantasy concept is completely unique and has nothing to do with either of the mentioned writers, which you can read all about on their official Bandcamp page. Their debut EP Chapter 1: Hero Reborn is here to tell the story of their warrior's path and his epic battles.

The EP starts with the track 'Path Of Solitude', which begins with a neoclassical keyboard part before kicking off with aggressive guitar playing and blast beat drumming. From here on, there are a plenty of riffs that switch from slow mid tempo to faster guitar parts, with an instance of galloping on the track 'Of Dragons And Magick'. Songs also have a wide range of leads and neoclassical solos on top of these riffs, double bass drumming and blast beats on tracks 'Path Of Solitude' and 'Against The Nightly Serpent', with Volkh's harsh singing along with clean back vocals on choruses. The only song in particular that stands out from the rest is the final track 'Ruins Of Arcadia', due to not having any black metal elements or Volkh's harsh vocals. The song is very classical symphonic power metal in similar vein of bands like Rhapsody and Edguy, consisted of clean singing along with female vocals by Dragica Maletić, with double bass drumming and palm muted riffs with neoclassical solos. This song isn't bad by any means, but it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the EP and it feels like a whole other band completely. The other issue that I have beside the final track are the leads and solos, which sound a lot like MIDI guitars. These leads and solos do fit well with the riffs and vocals, but production-wise it's very hard to look past the fact that they sound programmed and not played on actual guitars.

Beside a few issues that were mentioned above, I still find this a rather interesting and well thought EP. Sure it's far from perfect but at least it's a solid start for a new band that managed to fuse black and power metal, which is quite unheard of in the Serbian metal scene, other than Númenor being the primary example of such songwriting. I was quite surprised and a bit skeptical at first when I heard that Volkh and Ivan Radnić joined forces in creating a music that would have its own unique fantasy arc. Luckily, the doubt was finally put to rest when I heard Chapter 1: Hero Reborn EP when it came out, it was surprising as it was thrilling to listen to it for the first time, especially when I heard the songs 'Path Of Solitude', 'Warrior’s Path' and 'Of Dragons And Magick' which still to this day sound amazing. If you're fan of bands like Númenor and Bal-Sagoth, but you haven't checked out Enchanted Sword, I highly suggest you do.

Rating: 8 out of 10