DISKORD

Stylistically the basis of the band´s music is the same as it´s been since day one. Old school death metal influenced by early (death metal) Darkthrone and Cadaver combined with the fusion influenced technical playing of an act like Atheist. Diskord have increased their use of elements from other genres over the years though, and "Degenerations" is their most diverse effort up until now. I hear post-metal elements, noise/dissonance, and avant garde metal elements too. The use of clean guitars on closing track "Beyond the Grime" is also a first as far as I remember. The vocals are another feature, which have become more varied on "Degenerations". They are still predominantly growling, but there are different types of shouting raw vocals on the album too.

One of the great assets of Diskord´s sound is their powerful organic playing style. The trio format is fully explored here and the rawness and equal focus on every instrument work incredibly well. "Degenerations" also features an organic, raw, and powerful sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly. Every impressive detail is audible in the mix, but it´s not presented in a polished sterile fashion. This is a living, organic beast of an album and Diskord have done it again, and have released another high quality album. Personally I appreciate them most when they lean more towards the death metal/fusion influenced technical death metal part of their sound, and less when they lean towards the avant garde/noise part of their sound, but I generally think they strike a good balance here. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

While quantity is clearly not this Oslo band's modus operandi, quality on the other hand is something that this band has clearly nurtured from one album to the next. This band has always been a little out there as far as death metal is concerned. While rooted in old school 90s death metal DISKORD has pretty much never abandoned those old school elements that made early 90s death metal so [%*!#]ing badass! While "Doomscapes" entertained old school death metal with a touch of doom metal and technical workouts, the band has slowly but surely acquired a little more of an avant-garde taste on each subsequent album.

On this newest release DEGENERATIONS, DISKORD takes those progressive and technical infused liberties even further with a majorly satisfying run of 12 tracks that never stray far over the four minute playing time yet offer some of the most interesting stylistic shifts within what one could deem an old school death metal context. No band other than maybe Japan's Defiled has so spectacularly maintained an old school sheen while infusing highly sophisticated and oft complex technical deviations laced with moments of progressiveness and downright psychedelic surprises. While all these elements were present as far back as "Doomscapes," DISKORD has fully mastered its distinct sound although DEGENERATIONS seems to have tamped down the doom metal aspects in favor of a more dissonant style of modern death metal (dissodeath) which is right out of the Immolation, Gorguts, Ulcerate, Portal and Ad Nauseam.

Add to that some unexpected funky jazz grooves (like on "Bionic Tom Eternal") and strange pick sliding meets power chords and doomy bass stomps such as on "The Endless Spiral" and what DISKORD delivers with DEGENERATIONS is its most complex and varied album of its career. In recent years modern metal bands have really excelled at marrying the old school rhythmic regularities with the more chaotic, dissonant and atonal aspects of modern tech death. DISKORD retains its 90s origins only updates their sound to fit in perfectly with the modern world of more sci-fi infused extreme metal. While some bands like Blood Incantation can craft sprawling psychedelic journeys laced with chugging death metal riffs (Qrixkuor takes this to the ultimate extreme on its latest "Poison Palinopsia," DISKORD on the other hand keeps the tracks short and to the point with the artistic expression being truncated into micro-riffing, exotic grooves and off-kilter time signature deviations.

Despite the crafty experiments, once again DISKORD maintains its old school death metal charm with the easily recognizable tremolo guitar riffing, blastbeat percussive bombast and of course nasty guttural growls but successfully incorporate myriad experimental approach without allowing things to get too wild and unpredictable. The old school stomps keep the whole thing anchored to the 90s scene yet the spaced out accouterments add an interesting update to the old school sound and while most modern death metal is interested in heading to the stars these days it's cool that some of these bands are simply OK flying into space for a day or two and coming back down to Earth. Well played, well produced and laced with outstanding compositions, DISKORD proves with DEGENERATIONS that its here for the long term however at this rate we'll have to wait another ten years for the next album!

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.

The split features material by Lobotomized, Obliteration, Execration and Diskord. The Execration track and one of the Diskord tracks were later featured in re-recorded versions on the "Odes of the Occult (2011)" album by Execration and the "Dystopics (2012)" album by Diskord respectively. The rest of the tracks on the split are, as far as I´ve been able to find out, exclusive to this release.

"Oslo We Rot" is a relatively varied split although all four acts are rooted in old school Scandinavian death metal. Lobotomized is probably the act that sticks out the most as they employ a heavy dose of hardcore punk in their filthy take on old school death metal. They play an original track titled "Piss on My Grave" and two cover tracks. One Mentors cover and one Autopsy cover. The absolutely caustic vocal delivery is a great asset to their energetic and punked death metal style. The Obliteration track is sligthly more standard death metal. Both the Execration and the Diskord tracks are more technical in nature but without sacrificing filthy old school death metal darkness.

The sound production on most tracks are murky, dark and filthy, which suits the music on the split well. Overall "Oslo We Rot" is quite an entertaining release to my ears and especially Lobotomized and Diskord stand out as very convincing at what they do. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

The music on "Dystopics" pretty much continue down the same filthy and technical old school death metal path as the music on "Doomscapes". I'm still reminded of early Darkthrone, Cadaver and Carbonized, played with the technical skill of Atheist and the dissonant weirdness of late eighties Voivod. Like the case was on the debut the technical playing is not implemented to flash virtuoso skills but a way to express chaotic darkness. The atmosphere on the album is bleak and aggression is the key word. The music is delivered with an infectious energy and great conviction. These guys mean business and it's perhaps heard no better than in the absolutely caustic vocal delivery by Hans J'rgen Ersvik. Look no further for snarling growling vocals that seem designed to sear iron. The music features both fast blasting parts, odd technical parts and slow filthy doomy sections too. The latter type sections at times remind me of early Autopsy. Rotten to the core.

The sound production is raw and organic giving plenty of room for all instruments. I especially enjoy how audible the bass is in the soundscape. The sound is perfect for the trio format.

"Dystopics" is another very strong and distinct sounding release by Diskord. "Doomscapes" took me completely by surprise when I listened to the album the first time and ultimately I think "Dystopics" lacks that surprise element to elevate it to the same extremely high level as "Doomscapes". It comes close though and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) is fully deserved.

The music on the album is progressive and technical death metal. Unlike most other acts in the more technical part of the death metal spectrum, Diskord have a gritty and catchy old school death metal edge to their music. While the musicianship is outstanding on the album and you´re definitely in for your fair share of technical fast riffing and odd time signatures, the band focus less on scale shredding and impossible to play parts than many of their contemporaries. The technical playing is more a means to an end than show-off on Doomscapes. There´s a dark and obscure atmosphere surrounding the album and the brutal and absolutely caustic vocal delivery only enhances that atmosphere. It´s sort of like listening to the old school Norwegian death metal on Soulside Journey (1990) by Darkthrone or Hallucinating Anxiety (1990) by Cadaver combined with the extremely technical playing of Unquestionable Presence (1991)-era Atheist and the twisted dissonant chord progressions of late eighties Voivod. So Doomscapes is like a melting pot of different death metal/ metal styles with a sensibility towards the early nineties.

The album took me a while to embrace, and it´s safe to say Doomscapes isn´t an easily accessible album, but as mentioned above the band have a flair for creating memorable hooks and more simple out and out death metal parts to make the ride a bit less demanding. Those parts work like little breathers on an otherwise technical blizzard of an album. The production is raw and organic and suits the simplicity of instrumentation very well. Doomscapes is all in all a very unique album, full of filthy authentic aggression, innovative ideas and three musicians who know how to handle their instruments better than most. This is the kind of achivement that calls for a 4.5 star (90%) rating.