Band:	Decadence
Album:	Chargepoint
Style:	Melodic death metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	October 2009

01. Discharge
02. Silent Weapon (For A Quiet War)
03. Out Of Ashes
04. Point Of No Return
05. Strength Of Mind
06. Fast Forward
07. Challenge
08. Be Home When I'm Gone
09. The Demons Run [bonus]

When a band has a front woman who is referred to as "Metallic" Kitty and has a doll modelled after her, one can't help but wonder if this band is some sort of self-parody with questionable metal credibility. Luckily these factors become quite irrelevant when hearing the actual music, because what we have here is a confident melodeath/old school style thrash metal hybrid.

Chargepoint appears to be all about finding a perfect balance - melody vs. aggression, technicality vs. emotional expression. The chemistry between rhythm and lead guitars is probably the most notable part of this album - the chugging thrash riffage interlaced with soaring melodic leads makes this a pretty impressive album, guitar-wise. Amidst the great shred work of course is the vocals; which also have an impressive chemistry with the guitars. Kitty Saric has a nice range between some razor-sharp shrieks & growls to some hardcore-like shouting tendencies which are almost reminiscent of Andreas Geremia of Tankard at times. Each of these vocal styles are used in the right places to fit the guitar-work. This is definitely an album by guitarists for guitarists - every instrument seems to be based around the idea of complimenting the riffs.

Chargepoint offers everything you would expect in a thrash album, which is exactly where the problem lies. Decadence stick to their old-school thrash guns so hard it makes this album painfully predictable by the end. While each song standing on its own is extremely solid, with incredible amounts of ferocious energy, the album in it's entirety can be extremely dry. It all comes down to the fact that these are fully capable, skilled musicians that tend to lapse into mediocrity from time to time due to a refusal to branch out.

All in all Chargepoint is a worthwhile listen, and will probably be extremely pleasing to those who are relishing in the recent uprising of old school thrash metal with some extreme touches thrown in. Anyone else will probably be severely aggravated by the 37 minutes of monotony.