This Auckland, New Zealand based band was founded as a musical project in 2005 by singer/ guitarist Mathew Bosher, and his brother, now former drummer Daniel, which first made itself being properly heard of through the self-release of the 2008 full-length album A New Aesthetic, recorded and produced by David Holmes (known of work with Jakob, Kerretta and An Emerald City to name but a few), whom remains the band collaborator to date.
Video play for that album's songs “Peace May Come”, “Macchina” and “Featherlight” followed, and allowed the band to make itself a niche within the Alternative Rock scene. 2010 then saw the (online) release of sophomore album Love Hotel (a conceptual album with a narrative, set in the urban Japanese nightlife, centered around short-stay fantasy rooms that cater to guests' sexual wishes and serve as havens from the pressure en ennui of modern life – Mathew had developed the concept as an interest in hotel life interested him, love hotels being something of an institution in Japan...things Japanese being somewhat of an obsession with him). The album brought fruition to singles “Monster In A Pretty Dress”, “Eros”, and “Shinkansen”. Mathew this time wanted to tour the music, and when time came to do that, Daniel was replaced by Tory “Jester” Staples. Following shows in New Zealand and Australia, Mathew made his wet dream come true and toured the band on a 7-date stint through Japan...bringing the lyrical content of Love Hotel to home ground, so to say! All these positive evolutions had not gone unnoticed, and in 2011 Decortica was signed to the New Zealand department of major label EMI Music, who started its collaboration with the band by re-packaging the Love Hotel album and releasing it to a wider public.
Having progressed over time, the new material Mathew and Jester wrote for their the band's third album was a continued search into the world of Alternative Rock, into which elements from Prog, Hard Rock, and Alternative Metal would be included. As per usual, Mathew left the finalization of the lyrics for when he was actually in the studio. When that time came, to record the album, David Holmes returned to New Zealand from London for an intense three-week recording session (which differed from the project's previous recording sessions, as those were done in short intermittent sessions over a period of a couple of months). Following a short stint at York Steel Studios to record the drums, the duo of Holmes and Bosher retreated in a makeshift studio in the countryside of Coatsville, North-West of Auckland, and in spite of the short deadline, things went rather fluently thanks to the relationship already cultivated between artists and recording engineer/ producer! In order to realize on stage what Bosher and Staples had created in the studio, they enhanced the line-up through the recruitment of bassist Brendan Kahi.
In the bio posted at (www.) facebook.com/decortica (no bio to be found at the band's own site (www.) decortica.com), it is said that Decortica's third album is reminiscent of Deftones and early Soundgarden, but I would say it definitely transcends those two entities as a band quite on its own! As a guitarist, Bosher succeeds in playing both more loftier parts as well as crunching Sludge breaks, and his vocals are simply to-die-for, going from heartbreak-Radiohead-like whaling to head-ache spitting screams, and Staples' soft-light backings make things complete in the vocal department! Three instrumentals (the short “Four” and “73N” - respectively 50 and 107 seconds long – and the normal-length – 3:51 – Voight-Kampff”) underline the more sound-trackish undercurrent in the album, the part which makes the more aggressive parts that more brutal, simply by their presence!
For music off the new album, surf to the band's own website, where in the “Music” section you'll find the complete album posted. Darn...I forgot to check whether that was full-length songs, or just samples. At any rate, when you go to the “Music” section on the band's facebook page, you'll find yourself re-directed to the album's page on bandcamp.com, thus as yet allowing you to listen to all album tracks. Meanwhile, it's end conclusion time, and I for one am quite prepared to admit that not only does New Zealand have one of the country's true sonic forces in the band known as Decortica, but also that the world has a great new band within the Alternative Rock/ metal genre...one which has every right to install an extra throne next to those of the already established acts in the genre! Year-list material by all means, and thus, retro-actively, I hereby add 11811 to my “Best Albums Of 2012”-lists! Oh, before I forget, first single off the album was for the track “Helix” - look for the video on YouTube, or wherever one usually finds music clips!