Hrizg is a Black Metal act that comes to us from Spain. In 2007, the band issued their debut full-length recording, Oaken Path of Grief which was met with some less then spectacular criticism. The album was considered your average breed of Black Metal with nothing too spectacular behind it. Roughly four years later, the band has recorded their follow-up full-length, Anthems to Decrepitude, finding a home with Moribund Records. Of course, for those who read the not quite pleasing reviews, or even had the opportunity to hear the debut recording, wonder what lies wait on the group's follow-up recording, and all that really could be said is that, while a decent effort, it's about more of the same.

Anthems to Decrepitude isn't an album you would sit back and call amateurish, though the quality of the recording itself feels that way. This effort was initially released on a cassette, and given some of the white noise in the recording, it leads one to wonder if it was just taken from that cassette and slapped onto a CD. Outside that, the overall production isn't bad, and has a rather raw quality to it. The music sounds rather muffled overall, but the drums show up stronger on the final mix. The only thing questionable is whether half the time the bass kicks are being picked up or not. Sometimes you hear them clearly and distinctly, whereas you can go through a song for two minutes and think you're not hearing any, which leaves the music sounding a little open. It also doesn't help that the bass is pretty far back int he mix and practically inaudible. The music itself also sounds thick and rather low in volume with the vocals really taking command over the music, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that the vocals sound like you're listening to a pirate trying to perform Black Metal with an echo effect and rather poorly executed layered vocals.

The muffled music really does make a pretty strong impact to the overall quality of the album. It also doesn't help that the aforementioned "pirate" sounding vocals feel like no real effort went into them. If they had been a little slurred, you'd immediately think the vocalist had been drunk while recording, but luckily they aren't, but still sound a bit like that. When the vocals become a little harsher, like the half way point of "Angercraft", they sound really good and it often really suits the music nicely. However, for what comes off as melancolic second wave Black Metal, the typical approach just feels like no real pride went into a majority of the vocals here. It's sad because, despite the issues with the quality, the music is often solid Black Metal along the lines of Emperor, having a bit of a stylish feel, but with a raw quality and an atmosphere one may experience on an album by bands like Immortal.

There's no bad tracks on here, it's just that aforementioned quality in the music and vocals that holds it back, and even then it actually isn't too bad. Once you look past the very raw production quality, you'll see the talent hidden in the muffled mess. "Ab Aeterno" is an impressive track that shows a good deal of Black Metal aggression in the music with a stronger vocal performance at times, though some times they can come off more like groans you'd hear from an old man getting out of bed against his will. "Opposite to Light" also has a nice dismal atmosphere that feels composed more based on the band's region, and also feeds into the whole "pirate" vocalist idea well with chords that come off more like they'd suit a band about the high seas, though the atmosphere has a more epic vibe to it thanks to some of the keyboard-based operatic harmonizations that appear in the background. This track down has some poor layered vocal work, but it often only appears randomly for a few words and can easily be shrugged off. "In Solitude" is one of the slowest tracks on here, while "Into the Caves of Earth" is also another slower track, both really building up the melancholic sensation of the album, though "In Solitude" does take some of the poorly altered ghastly wails you hear on earlier tracks and utilizes them properly to weave an eery atmosphere to the track. "Broken Shield" makes for a nice closing instrumental, but as you listen to it you can't help but picture it being from some cheesy eighties science fiction b-movie, or given the midi sound, perhaps something off an old video game, perhaps from the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis days. Either way, the closing feels out of place atmospherically, though somber enough to work in the album's favor.

In the end, Anthems of Decrepitude has plenty of songs that follow the same kind of overall atmosphere, flow, and general compositions. They are far from repetitive, it's just that the music sounds like solid early second wave Black Metal with a good stylish feel to some of the songs thanks to the keyboard effects used on some tracks, including the opening song "The Infernal Scripture". If you enjoy well performed Black Metal, this would be a release worth checking out, despite the vocals that come off weak and sometimes lazy. However, the idea of trying to get a vocal style that is deep yet some off menacing was a good idea, the fact that they often sounded more like a pirate with a little too much to drink trying to sing didn't work out. But, the promise is there, and despite some of the production issues, so is the talent, and it's pretty clear once you shrug off the issues of the muffled quality. It's well worth a listen, especially if you just want an album you can throw in and just unwind to, as that is the experience this album seems to benefit from all around.