OSCILLATIONS

"Oscillations" is an EP release by Norwegian death metal act Diskord. The EP was released through Hellthrasher Productions in August 2014. It´s a 6 track, 25:58 minutes long release, and if the EP had featured just a few more tracks, this could well have been the band´s 3rd full-length studio album. So you´ll get plenty of quantity for your money.

Not surprisingly the quality of the material is also high. Diskord are known for delivering a brutal and old school oriented type of technical/progressive death metal, and that trend is continued on "Oscillations". It´s still artists like Cadaver, Carbonized, and pre-black metal Darkthrone that are the main influences, but add to that some dissonant riffing in the vein of Voivod, and a description of the band´s music is formed. The riffs are raw and delivered with fierce conviction and energy, the drumming is fusion influenced but still powerful and suiting the old school death metal atmosphere, and the vocals are poison filled and sneering death metal growls. So while the music is certainly both progressive and technical in execution, brutality and aggression are always in the high seat. There´s no complex playing for the sake of it. The technical playing and the progressive ideas are a means to an end.

The sound production is raw, dark, and powerful. The drums are slightly less organic and bit more clicky sounding than on the two album predecessors, and I´m not sure I think that´s a good idea, but it´s not a major issue. so "Oscillations" is overall another really strong release by Diskord, and although I think I prefer the two preceeding studio albums over this EP release, a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is still deserved.