1449 - Decapitated Homo Sum 2011

After a tragic bus accident in October 2007 near Russia claimed the life of drummer Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka and left vocalist Adrian "Covan" Kowanek physically disabled, it would have been understandable had guitarist Waclaw "Vogg" Kieltyka decided not to carry the Decapitated banner any further. But quitting wasn't in the cards, and Vogg decided Decapitated's history had not been written in its entirely. With the loss of his brother surely still stinging him, he forged ahead, found new members in drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner and vocalist Rafa³ "Rasta" Piotrowski, and as a unit, they pumped out "Carnival Is Forever", one of the most devastating albums in the band's discography. "Carnival Is Forever" is Decapitated's first album to feature vocalist Rafał "Rasta" Piotrowski, and their only album to feature bassist Filip "Heinrich" Hałucha and drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner. In order to achieve "the 'true', organic and natural sound", the band recorded with live drums (without using drum triggers) and without double guitar tracks, which means one guitar per side. “Homo Sum” is the single from the record, and one of the best tracks to be found on here.

1351 - Decapitated Carnival Is Forever 2011

In 2009, after a period of disbandment, Decapitated's guitarist, composer and founding member Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka reformed the band with Austrian drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner, vocalist Rafał Piotrowski, and bassist Filip "Heinrich" Hałucha. Decapitated entered RG Studio in Gdańsk, Poland on February 9, 2011, to record "Carnival Is Forever". This lumbering and epic title track starts at an uneasily still point, a stuttering, repetitive clean arpeggio building off its own presence until, after a little under a minute, the tunes’ chunky main riff arrives, sucking up all the misty ambience created and bowling over everything in its path. And while a riff this dense is pretty impressive on its own, the way drummer Krimh frames it keeps it moving and versatile: it comes up multiple times over the course of “Carnival is Forever”’s remaining eight minutes, but never sounds dwarfed by repetition. Without resorting to unnecessary orchestration or belabored minor key emoting, the song is powerful and affecting.