Essentially a bunch of kids playing a testy amalgam of thrash, death, and punk, Baltimore’s Noisem have received the full benefit of buzz since their 2013 Agony Defiled debut. More cynical parties will view the band as somewhat of a novelty, because again, they’re awfully young, while the loosey-goose will give Noisem an extra push because (again) they’re young. It’s the overriding narrative with these lads. Nevertheless, the band’s Blossoming Decay sophomore effort puts its head down, doesn’t veer off course, and gets it done under 25 minutes. Kids really are impatient these days.
Fundamentally, and because they’re songs are so short, Noisem can push the pace as hard as they’d like. Standard, if not predictable thrashers a la “Burning,” along with “Replant and Repress” hammer-on the throttle ala Slayer mixing it up with Left Hand Path-era Entombed, which is somewhat where the band resides. They may not be as technical as a bonafide thrash band should be, but swarming “Hostile End – Hollow Life,” brash “Another Night Sleeping in the Cold,” and fully-developed “Blossoming of the Web” (which nearly hits five minutes. Look out!) show that Noisem aren’t concerned with technical practices as they are getting to the (blunt) point.
Blossoming Decay is your standard “safe-zone” album. Noisem were smart to follow in the path of Agony Defiled in such a manner; these songs will simply pad their live repertoire and maintain their level as one of America’s most exciting young bands. The real key, however, is when “young” is detached from their name and they have to fend for themselves like every other band does. That’s when the ‘ole training wheels will have to come off.