A Gradual Decline In Morale

Kim Dracula built their staggering TikTok following on the back of abrasive, aggressive metal cover songs going viral, becoming one of the platform’s most-followed Australian names. And their debut album, consisting mostly original music, might just be the loudest word in the perpetually online artist’s penchant for pastiche. Split into three acts—The Pledge, The Turn, The Prestige—each track brings chaotic bombast together in a symposium of styles, vibes, and homages to established acts (even their name has been lifted from a 2006 Deftones cut). Over its 20 songs, *A Gradual Decline in Morale* perfectly asserts the identity of a generation besotted by instant, boundary-free access to the full gamut of genres, artists, and eras. Amidst it all, you’ll hear Red Hot Chili Peppers-brand slap funk (“My Confession”), anthemic mid-2000s club punk (single “Drown”), shuffling synthwave (“Are You?”), crushing deathcore with a touch of Elvis (“Land of the Sun”), maudlin desert crooning (“Rosé”), dank trap (“Seventy Thorns,” featuring Korn’s Jonathan Davis), and a grimdark cover of The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.”