NOT TO BE UNDIMENSIONAL CONSCIOUS

"Not to be Undimensional Conscious" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Austrian Avant garde/ Experimental death metal act Disharmonic Orchestra. None of the band´s earlier death metal/ grindcore releases have exactly made my blood boil, but "Not to be Undimensional Conscious" is usually highly regarded by fans of the more avant garde part of the death metal genre and several people have recommended me to take a proper listen to the album. I remember listening to the album at a friend´s house back in day. I always felt the album was very weird and back then it didn´t suit my tastes one bit. I decided to give "Not to be Undimensional Conscious" one more chance though and I´m glad I did.

Disharmonic Orchestra was basically a simple death metal/ grindcore act with few experimental moments on their early releases, but with "Not to be Undimensional Conscious" they earned their avant garde/ experimental tag. The foundation in the music is still death metal with growling vocals but with lots of experiments along the way. The first thing I noticed was that the bass is very prominant in the mix. It has a life of its own and doesn´t follow the guitar much. The drums are fusion-influenced and sometimes remind me of the drums on the "Unquestionable Presence (1991)" album by Atheist. So a very interesting change to the rythm section compared to earlier releases by the band. There are also several experiments with polyrythms and odd time signatures that should please fans of the genre. I generally enjoy the sometimes odd experiments on the album but I have to admit that the rap part in "The Return of the Living Beat" somewhat turns me off.

The album was recorded and mixed at the famous Sunlight Studio in Stockholm, Sweden by just as famous producer Tomas Skogsberg (check almost any Swedish death metal release from the early nineties and Tomas Skogsberg was involved as producer). It was produced by Disharmonic Orchestra and Tomas Skogsberg and the result is very enjoyable IMO. The power trio sound works very well here.

So "Not to be Undimensional Conscious" is a massive improvement over earlier releases by Disharmonic Orchestra and while the album isn´t perfect (at least not to my ears) it should certainly be considered a classic experimental/ avant garde death metal album. Essential or not my rating is 3.5 stars. I might upgrade my rating to 4 stars some time in the future though. I sense this album is a grower.