VICIOUS RUMORS – Celebration Decay

The Backstory

San Francisco Bay Area stalwarts Vicious Rumors are back with their 13th album Celebration Decay, the long awaited follow up to their 2016 release Concussion Protocol.  Why the long wait?  Well, Vicious Rumors had planned 20 concerts to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their landmark album, 1988’s Digital Dictator.  Those 20 shows turned into 108 shows.  With the release of Celebration Day the band adds new guitarist Gunnar Dugrey and new vocalist Nick Courtney to their ranks.

The Album

Everything that you’d ever expected to hear from an 80’s Thrash Metal song is pretty much rolled up into the first track “Celebration Day.”  There’s a slow rumbling intro, followed by driving guitar riffs and Larry Howe’s pounding drums.  Vocalist Nick Courtney spits venom, but also wails like the best of them. The dual guitar attack of Geoff Thorpe and Gunnar Dugrey steals the show at the instrumental break.  Vicious Rumors keep the intensity flowing on “Pulse of the Dead.” Cortney is more melodic than edgy here, reminiscent of a young Rob Halford.

“Any Last Words” is loaded with pure Thrash riffage and animosity.  Dugrey shows once again why he landed the gig with his blazing fretwork.  Not that the album hasn’t been a dark affair up to this point, but “Asylum of Blood” goes deeper into the shadows with haunting background vocals and sinister lyrics.  Acoustic guitars bring the tempo down for “Darkness Devine.”  When the rest of the band kicks in, the track morphs into a post-grunge affair with 80’s thrash guitar sensibilities.

“Death Eternal” has Courtney back at his higher range vocals and Owens still pounding effortlessly on the skins.  The solo isn’t too flashy, but it doesn’t need to be.  Breakneck speeds propel “Collision Course Disaster,” while the final song “Masquerade of Good Intentions” is full of changing tempos and fervor.

The Verdict

Celebration Decay is everything you love about classic Thrash, with a few twists and turns to keep it modern.  Vicious Rumors aren’t trying to reinvent the genre here, but they certainly prove that they are one of the finest to play it.

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Tracklist

1. Celebration Decay
2. Pulse of the Dead
3. Arrival of Desolation
4. Any Last Words
5. Asylum of Blood
6. Darkness Divine
7. Long Way Home
8. Cold Blooded
9. Death Eternal
10. Collision Course Disaster
11. Masquerade of Good Intensions