WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Decapitated – Blood Mantra album stream

On Monday 29th September the death metal titans Decapitated will release their sixth full-length onto the world. But because we're bloody lovely people, we're giving it to you RIGHT NOW.

Decapitated’s tale in the chapters of metal is unlike any other. After signing with Earache during their teens, the Polish quartet were responsible for breathing some much-needed new life into post-millennium death metal. But tragedy struck in 2007, with a bus crash claiming the life of drummer Witold ‘Vitek’ Kiełtyka and incapacitating singer Adrian ‘Covan’ Kowanek. Yet here the band stands today, screaming defiance and sounding as furious as ever – as you’ll hear from opener Exiled In Flesh. While 2011’s comeback album Carnival Is Forever saw the new lineup gravitate towards more polyrhythmic, almost Meshuggah- esque sounds, album six seems to balance their newfound sense of groove with the pulverising blasts of their tech-death roots. The title track has more stomp than Godzilla after discovering the missus has been copping off with best mate King Kong, followed by the bludgeoning staccato of Nest, which serves a full cranial episiotomy by the time its six and a half minutes come to a close. Jarring rhythms and dissonant leads collide in Blindness, a cerebral tornado that disorientates the listener. Overall, Blood Mantra serves as yet another reminder why Decapitated have remained one of the most important extreme metal bands.

Blood Mantra is out via Nuclear Blast on 29th September and is available to pre-order now.

Amit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences. He's interviewed everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handling lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).