I’m a pretty lucky guy when I look at the grand scheme of things. Not only do I have a fairly successful blog that lets me write about metal from all over the world, but I happen to live in a fairly rural setting that just happens to be surrounded by some of the best metal I have ever seen live. Aside from the live acts we have amazing record companies like DIMINISHED FIFTH that only accept the best from their artists. When you get the best out of bands like BLACK MOOR and ORCHIDS CURSE you have quality that can compete with anything in the world of metal today.
With that being said I have to come right out and say that what DIMINISHED demands they appear to get because New Brunswicks DISCHORD’s new album CASUALTIES OF WAR is a brilliant piece of metal from my neighbour province. I have covered DISCHORD in the past and talked over and over again about the aggressiveness and energy they bring to their music. What I unfortunately missed though is a biography on the band that takes my understanding of these guys to a new level.
If you head over to http://dischord.ca you will find a biography that takes you through the humble beginnings of DISCHORD as a cover band named FREEDOM MILITIA, to the many membership changes, to their passion for metal that has kept them moving forward. To see a band write their own biography in a non-assuming way that’s meant to show you the men behind the instruments is rare and brought the emotional level of their music to a new level for me.
The love-fest between me and DISCHORD ends in that last paragraph because I know that CASUALITES OF WAR was meant to slay me in a metal massacre. The aggressive raw energy of the band is kept intact from start to finish and you can’t help but wonder how they are able to keep the pacing of the tracks so high.
More after the warp:
The vocals in most places come across more as a bark than the typical guttural growl, but it works very well with the refreshing guitar riffs that are laced throughout the album. DISCHORDS brand of death metal is very modern with drum work that doesn’t rely on the past to steer the ship. The title track CASUALTIES OF WAR and SHADOW DEMONS displays the band song writing abilities of keeping the energy high with a total band effort.
MORTAL DIETY was my personal favourite on the album with its almost chanted message. The vocals come across as much harsher and the bass work shines. The song has a great hook that you don’t find in many death metal bands these days.
The song SOLITARY CONFINEMENT for me was an enjoyable yet baffling song. I loved the confusion of the song, but didn’t understand some of the pace changes. It feels like the band wanted to try something different, but when you have a sound this fresh you can tow the line for a while at least.
Overall DISCHORD’s CASUALTIES OF WAR is a nasty piece of metal that leaves you pressing replay over and over again. The barking nature of lyrical delivery and total band effort shows a path for death metal to crawl out of the monotonous ditch it has fallen into.
8.5 OUT OF 10 HORNS
Show me your horns,
Martell
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[...] And a couple of reviews so far for our album: http://www.welovemetal.com/newsite/wordpress/2011/07/29/dischord-casualties-of-war/ [...]