Inspiration can be found in many things, and also in our own environment. Such is the case with The Depressick’s Faded.exe: this album provides us with a glimpse of the bleakness, gloom and hopelessness that surrounds them in their area, which is a historically impoverished suburb of densely populated Mexico City called Nezahualcoyotl. This album will hit you to the core - its bleakness will give you not only a glimpse into what they experience on a daily basis, but also move you with the beauty of the music they have created which is full of pain and anguish, so let’s drown in the agonising sounds of Faded.exe.
The Depressick is a DSBM/Post-Black Metal band hailing from Mexico City formed in 2013. They released an album called Carcinoma back in 2017 and have released several EPs since 2014. With this new record they express their own anguish - a world full of worry, trying to pour all of these negative experiences into their music while turning it into something that may or may not provide some kind of comfort. To me, this is a great introduction into their music and into this Mexican band. The album is a joint release between Tragedy Productions and End My Life Records and they have Sven Kleis (Amimia and Cendre) on drums, this being his first album with the band.
The record begins with a cover using an image of the Virgin, representing the Catholic idea of transcendence after pain, which very much suits the album’s theme. Faded.exe consists of seven tracks, the last one being an instrumental piano one. From the start, the album hits you with waves of raw emotion and despair. From the start, “Shattered Heart” brings that fury and the wailing vocals add that gut wrenching part which is going to be a recurring theme throughout the roughly 41 minutes. The riffs are also providing that intensity on this first track, which I have to say is my favourite one on this album. The ending of it brings that intensity down, fading seamlessly into the next track. “Greywave” starts with a semi-clean tone and an electronic click that almost seems to dictate the pace of the intro, with the vocals and drums breaking that stillness and increasing the intensity. On this album, the band mixes not only elements that are part of DSBM and Post-Black Metal, but also some Electronic elements that make this even more so a really great release. “HCI” keeps the recurrent theme and evolving atmospheres going: the raw and despair-ridden vocals are still present. The guitar tones provide a cold feeling comparable to chilled concrete; the aesthetic is palpable. This track goes into a bit of an upbeat groove at the end, making it feel like almost everything is not lost. “Inlandsis” is another track that starts with an almost clean tone; the intensity of the guitar starts building after a few seconds and all of the elements into The Depressick’s music just surrounds you, sinking deeper into the grief. Next, to almost conclude the album are “Papillon (Part I)” and “Papillon (Part II)”, the latter just seeming to bring it all into a melancholic slow pace.
This album makes you wonder if suffering is a never-ending cycle or if there is relief from it, like the flower trying to grow in very harsh conditions, like a creak in the concrete, trying to survive in a hostile and harsh environment. Even as bleak as Faded.exe is, its theme, the same harsh, hopeless and negative conditions and surroundings that inspire The Depressick, you cannot help but to look into the beauty within the dark, which makes that journey into anguish and uncertain hope worthwhile.
