In 1992, Massacra, founded in 1986, which together with Loublast, Crusher, Agressor, and Mercyless formed the spearhead of French death metal, released their third album, “Sins of the Decline.” Just as the first two albums were released on the dynamic Shark Records label owned by the energetic metal pioneer Axel Thubeauville, Massacra were able to secure a deal with the major label Vertigo Records with this album (the Shark Records logo also appears on the back cover, so it was probably a kind of co-production), which also released million-sellers such as Black Sabbath and Metallica—especially at that time, this deal was something special. This makes the album a landmark in music history, as “Signs of the Decline” was the first death metal album released on a major label. Morbid Angel's “Covenant” was released on Warner's sub-label Giant Records for the North American market a year later in 1993.
I first became aware of the album thanks to a very good review in the German magazine Rock Hard. At least in Germany, Massacra was actually the only well-known French death metal band at the time.
The ten tracks are totally convincing, and Massacra have created one of the best death metal albums ever to come out of France. Despite all the brutality and the predominantly fast tempos of the material, there is always room for groovy mid-tempo parts, which give the album a certain dynamic. The thrash influence, which still occasionally comes to the surface, also makes this album so worth listening to that, although it may be somewhat more varied than its two predecessors, it's by no means less brutal—quite the contrary. Influences from old Kreator can be heard, as well as old Sepultura, especially the glorious “Beneath the Remains.”
Ultimately, the musical influences of Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse can be heard on this work, to name other few well-known references. After this album, Massacra developed in a different musical direction, becoming more thrash and groove-oriented, which did not go down well with most fans, before the band finally split up at the end of the 1990s after their last album, “Humanize Human,” was released in 1995. Unfortunately, only two members of the four-piece band featured on this album are still alive today. After Fred “Death” Duval died of skin cancer in 1997, the band's drummer for the period of this album and and its successor “Sick” Matthias Limmer also passed away in 2023.
As I discovered during my research, Chris Palengat, the drummer on the first two Massacra albums (which are also truly great, outstanding works), formed a band called Massacra Legacy this year to perform the trilogy of the first albums, of which “Signs of the Decline” is the final installment, live to audiences. By the way, Century Media Records re-released these first three albums as remastered CD versions in 2014, as well as a compilation of old demo releases titled “Day of the Massacra” in 2013.
