Lyrically diving into inner struggles with truth, lies, and navigating through it all. “Bleeding Lies” is perhaps the deepest and darkest offering of the album. With a clear precise delivery through the verse, the chorus allows him to let lose making for a great rock track. The guitar tone is stellar and Harris reveals even more with his voice here.
“Say Hello” slows things down a bit with a really cool dirty grungy vibe. Harris gives dynamic vocals ranging from rough to smooth, and the backing tracks really provide a nice touch to the complete track. With larger than life riffs by Chris Clonts and Brandon Mills, the track takes on a 90’s alternative rock vibe similar to that of Stone Temple Pilots. Keeping things diverse Decyfer Down throws the listeners a curve ball with “Worst Enemy”. The southern rock influence is felt heavily on this track and it works well. “Westboro” starts out with a similar rock sound and then you are hit with a soulful vocal output by Harris. This showcases a more straight ahead stripped down rock approach to which each track follows. Harris’ voice is low, clear, and intense the guitars loud, proud, and ready to explode. The track lets the listener know the band has further morphed their sound. Scarecrow begins the record on a high note with “Memory”. This will also mark the first record written with Harris on vocals. Many wonder as to where Decyfer Down would take things next. This album comes to much anticipation as per the long lay-off between albums. Now 5 years later, Decyfer Down is ready to take things to the next level with the release of Scarecrow. With all due respect to Caleb, whose voice was strong in its own right, Harris brought a new dynamic to the band with his vocal approach. Rather than take a step back the band took a step forward with Crash being even more successful than their debut.
This ushered in a new era in the band with TJ Harris taking over as lead vocalist.
In 2008 the band’s long time vocalist Caleb Oliver (brother of Josh) departed prior to the recording of their 2nd record Crash. Their debut album End Of Grey made some waves in the Christian hard rock scene back in 2006. Begun back in 1999 in Morehead City, NC, the only two original members remaining are Brandon Mills (guitars/backing vocals) and Josh Oliver (drums).