CD Reviews – Degenerations Diskord

Death metal has multiplied and evolved with ferocious force over the decades, and it continues to spew up new and determinedly brain-mangling strains. DISKORD have been an intermittent force for death metal weirdness for over 20 years, but their recorded output has never exhibited the slightest inclination toward escaping the underground. As a result, the Norwegians’ third album sounds perfectly untouched by outside influence. This band know their old-school and occult death metal inside out, but their approach is so warped and wilfully whacked out that it could only be the most natural thing in the world for these guys to play. Opener “Loitering in the Portal” is simply unhinged, with a giant, vicious kick-off riff that listeners will definitely not be expecting, and more detours per square inch than even the average GORGUTS aficionado will be able to fathom at first hearing. The Canadians are a good reference here, however, because the spirit of their “Obscura” watershed is much in evidence here, amid the myriad tempo changes and mood shifts of “Bionic Tomb Eternal” and “Dirigiste Radio”.

Even more so, fans of DEMILICH will recognise the structural anarchy and mischievous sense of subversion that informs every riff and jarring rhythmic curveball here. But while those bands are obvious peers and forebears to DISKORD‘s madness, “Degenerations” exists in its own deranged universe, too. There is an angularity to many of the riffs, a weirdly compelling fluidity to the awkward, anti-grooves, and a strangely satisfying internal logic driving the neck-wrenching tangential leaps. Rather than dazzling us with their virtuoso chops and knowledge of jazz chords, DISKORD sound lost in a shared reverie of profoundly wonky noise worship. Here, the sluggish industrial squall of interlude “Lone Survivor” makes as much sense as the obtuse VOIVOD-isms and bulldozer avant-prog pummel of “Raging Berzerker in the Universe Rigid”, and it all fits together as one sustained and hypnotic riot of wrongness.

To clinch the deal, DISKORD save their most twisted outburst until last. “Beyond the Grime” is a magical thing, in the worst possible way: with blastbeats, hazy goth arpeggios, hissing sludge and a tangible sense of worlds colliding and skulls caving in, it sounds a lot closer to the end of the world than most like-minded attempts. But what a way to go, crazed, creative and crushing to the last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yGqw8JamDY

To comment on a
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you’re logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
and
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the “Report to Facebook” and “Mark as spam” links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
reserves the right to “hide” comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to “ban” users that violate the site’s Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user’s Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a “banned” user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the “banned” user’s comments will only be visible to the user and the user’s Facebook friends).