Since their debut Winds of Creation, Decapitated have divided their time between relentless world-touring and a more academic musical education back in their homeland, Poland. The result on Nihility, despite the extraordinary speed of the band's playing, is a consistency of power rare in the race-away world of death metal. The main improvement (remember, Decapitated's average age is still less than 20) has come in the performance of guitarist Vogg. As on the debut, he still indulges in bursts of Eddie Van Halen-style pyrotechnics ("Perfect Dehumanisation", "Nihility"), but his sound has matured somewhat, so that during "Names" and "Eternity Too Short" he sometimes recalls Ritchie Blackmore in the early days of Rainbow. Most of the time, though, he creates a torrent of noise, angry and near-ceaseless, driven to ever-greater excesses of speed and violence by Vitek's savage percussion. On the downside, tracks sometimes go nowhere, ending for no obvious reason, while an occasional change of pace might arm Decapitated with the power of surprise. Furthermore, vocalist Sauron could add more rhythmic and melodic variation to his infernal gruntings. From time to time, as during "Mother War", he sounds like a buffalo attempting to recite nursery rhymes--not scary at all. Taken as a whole though, Nihility is a step forward, unlikely to disappoint Decapitated's growing legion of fans. --Dominic Wills