1. In God We Trust
2. Predator
3. Kill Rush
4. Degradation Machine
5. Decline
6. Genocide
7. This Is Not Freedom
8. Ashes
9. Blood I Bleed ^
10. Kill the Voice *
11. Play God *
12. Ashes to Ashes *
(^) Bonus track
(*) Bonus tracks from demo 2009
with Ann Boleyn on vocals
Comment:
Re-issue with new cover art and bonus tracks of the 2nd album from '10 by this mythic Thrash Metal band from California! Any lover of the band will love this album!! Includes 4 bonus tracks, three of them being from the unreleased demo '09 with Ann Boleyn on vocals!!
The story of DÉTENTE is a quite confusing one. Formed in 1984 in L.A., the band always was the brainchild of singer Dawn Crosby, who was the only constant member. After three demo tapes, the band released their first album “Recognize No Authority” two years after their formation. That album was one of the most outstanding releases of US Thrash Metal back then, since it was absolutely unique. DÉTENTE had a distinct influence from Hardcore and Punk, that was found in both music and lyrics. Dawn's vocals were angry and aggressive like the best Hardcore shouters of the time, combined with bass lines and some Hardcore riffs on an aggressive Metal base. In addition, the quite dark atmosphere of the album made it one of my favourite Thrash albums of all time. After the album there were conflicts within the band that ended up with Dawn firing all the other members. Those who got fired formed CATALEPSY with new singer Veronica Ross, following the path of DÉTENTE. Despite promising demos, they unfortunately didn't release a full length album and broke up in 1989. The newly formed DÉTENTE recorded two more demos before Dawn decided to put the DÉTENTE moniker aside. Instead, she started FEAR OF GOD with the remaining DÈTENTE members and released the very huge album “Within The Veil” in 1991. The band was active and even put out a mediocre second album until 1996. At the end of that year, Dawn passed away from acute liver failure, aged 33. That should have been the end of the story of DÉTENTE, but it wasn't, since we have the second album of the band here. It's called “Decline” and was recorded in 2010, with three members of the “Recognize No Authority” line-up who reformed DÉTENTE in 2008 just to split-up after that album. Vocal duties were taken over by a certain Tiina Teal, who successfully gave anything to be a good substitute for Dawn. In fact, her style of singing was in some moments surprisingly close to the one of Dawn, both in aggressive moments and in rare fragile moods ('Degradation Machine'). But sometimes, her voice reminds of Sabina Classen (HOLY MOSES) as well. Musically, the direction of DÉTENTE hasn't really changed in comparison to “Recognize No Authority”. The riffs are slightly more modern, sometimes the speed is more present, and somehow even FEAR OF GOD left a little trace. But the most striking point is the fact that most of the songs are nearly as sweeping as the old classics. There are some really huge highlights like the already mentioned 'Degradation Machine', that blew me away with some fragile breaks, or the final 'Ashes'. The opening, damn pissed off 'In God We Trust' and the grooving 'Predator' are killer songs as well. And with 'Genocide', we even have a blast of the past, since this song is nothing less than the instrumental song 'Catalepsy' from the first album with lyrics and vocals. All in all, DÉTENTE did not ruin their reputation with “Decline” at all, but managed to release a great follow-up to a 24 year old debut album. To give this thesis a proof, anyone new to DÉTENTE is advised to check the first album “Recognize No Authority” before checking out the second one. The latter is now as easy to find as the first, since Xtreem also re-released “Decline”, even though it is not as luxurious. First of all, the hidden bonus track of the original CD version finally gets its full reputation: a re-recorded version of 'Blood I Bleed' from the first album, that is nearly as good as the original and pretty close to it as well. And in addition, we get something pretty rare in the form of unreleased demo tracks here. These are from 2009 when DÉTENTE recorded three songs with HELLION singer Ann Boleyn, who was originally intended to be the singer of the reunion and even played some shows with DÉTENTE. I'm very thankful that this collaboration was ended before the album recordings, since the classic Metal vocals of Mrs. Boleyn didn't fit to the music of DÉTENTE one bit. Since all the songs were recorded for “Decline” as well with new lyrics and titles, everyone can easily check out the difference. The best example here is 'Play God', which became 'Degradation Machine' on the album. Ann Boleyn's delivery is not bad, but it completely lacks both the the fragility and the aggression of Tiina Teal's interpretation on the album. As far as I'm concerned, these bonus tracks are completely redundant, but they won't keep me from getting “Decline” on vinyl.
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