Decayed: In the Smoke of Ancient Fires

Forging Portuguese Black Metal in the shadows of the Southern Underworld.

While Norway was igniting church spires and Sweden was refining sonic precision, Portugal was cultivating its own black flame. In the early 1990s, far from the frostbitten north, Decayed emerged from Lisbon’s underground with a sound as raw and relentless as the southern winds. They were not just participants in Black Metal’s second wave, they were architects of a uniquely Lusitanian vision, rooted in ancient pride, occult fury, and the purest traditions of the genre’s earliest days.

Before aesthetics became codified and trends metastasized, Decayed forged their identity in the crucible of tape-trading culture, invoking Venom, Hellhammer, Bathory, and the most primitive ends of Death and Thrash. Their early discography is not a neatly polished catalogue, it is a tomb unearthed, still breathing rot and ritual. 

From Dust and Blood: The Demos and First Flames

Decayed’s story begins in 1990 under the name Decay, formed by guitarist J.A. (Jaime Gomes) and vocalist/drummer Wils, soon joined by bass player R. (Rafael). After a short-lived name and lineup change, the band settled on Decayed, a name that suited their aesthetic perfectly: corrosion, Death, and timeworn power.

Their early demos, “Thus Revealed” (1992) and “The Seven Seals” (1993), are primal invocations. Lo-fi and soaked in the blood of first-wave Black Metal, these recordings echo with Bathory’s grim determination and the punk-driven simplicity of early Sodom and Bulldozer. Yet even at this stage, Decayed were more than imitators, they were revivalists of a pagan spirit uniquely tied to the Iberian past. The Seven Seals in particular reveals a clearer direction: long, blasphemous tracks carried by distorted necro-riffing, snarling vocals, and a rhythmic pacing more aligned with ritual than rock.

These demos established Decayed as serious contenders in the burgeoning southern European scene. They circulated widely via tape-trading networks, particularly in Brazil and Eastern Europe, helping the band build a cult reputation long before international press or professional PR machines took notice.

The First Album and Declaration
“In Lustful Mayhem”

In 1994, Decayed released their first full-length assault: In Lustful Mayhem. It was, and remains, a thunderous statement of intent, ten tracks of unrelenting Black Metal fused with the primal energy of early Death and Thrash. Where the Norwegians gazed toward misanthropic nihilism and the Swedes sought melodic perfection, Decayed dragged the listener through scorched earth, demonic caverns, and pagan visions of an Iberia lost to time.

The album sounds like it was recorded in the tomb of a sacrificial altar: claustrophobic, echoing, and barbaric. Tracks like “Diabolical Incantation” and “Lucifer, My King” offer no compromise. The lyrics invoke Satan, lust, sacrifice, and ancestral rage, not as cartoonish rebellion, but as liturgy. Every aspect of the album seems to announce we are not of the modern world.

Importantly, In Lustful Mayhem is not polished, it is authentic. The production is rough, the mix uneven, and that very imperfection enhances its power. It captures Black Metal at its core: dangerous, untamed, and unafraid to sound imperfect in pursuit of purity.

“The Conjuration of the Southern Circle”
Triumph in Shadows

If “In Lustful Mayhem” was the band’s declaration of war, then “The Conjuration of the Southern Circle” (1995) was their grim masterpiece. This record distills everything that Decayed had been building toward: longer compositions, clearer songwriting without sacrificing ferocity, and a deeper immersion into occult and pagan themes.

Here, the band fully aligns itself with the legacy of southern European mysticism. The album is steeped in references to ancient rites, demonology, and pre-Christian traditions, wrapped in fire and steel. Songs like “The Seventh Seal” and “Night of the Black Moon” are apocalyptic sermons, delivered over a foundation of riffs sharpened by years of underground discipline.

It is also here that Decayed began to refine the balance between atmosphere and aggression. The tempo varies more confidently; the riffs linger longer. There is a sense of place in the music—one can feel the weight of stone ruins, smell incense and blood in the air, hear wolves and crows circling above. This was not just Black Metal, it was Lusitanian black meta*. Not a geographic footnote, but a spiritual identity.

Rituals Without End: A Legacy Cemented

After “The Conjuration of the Southern Circle”, Decayed would go on to become one of the most prolific Black Metal bands in the world, releasing countless albums, splits, and EPs. Their later work, while often maintaining the same ritualistic core, evolved in production and scope. Yet the early era remains sacred, a moment when the band distilled raw instinct, ideology, and historical resonance into pure, unfiltered sound. What separates Decayed from many of their peers is not just their longevity or productivity, but their consistency of vision. From their first rehearsal to their fifteenth full-length, they have remained loyal to a path of unholy devotion, anti-modernism, and reverence for the ancient world.

Decayed did not chase trends, they summoned them from the ashes. In the early '90s, when Portugal was not yet on the global Black Metal map, Decayed cast their circle in blood and fire, and dared the world to look south. Their legacy is not written in gold or sold in mass quantities. It’s inscribed in bone, tape hiss, and the smoke of forgotten rites. And that legacy still burns.

Decayed Official Bandcamp