Dark Disciple (DD from now on) do not fuck around; striding, suitably dirty detuned death metal is their trade. The songs aren't too straight, they are just riff and rhythm based and guys never get on that infamous self-masturbation level, in other words they don't show around. Just riff after riff and beat after beat. Back to basics. Riffs and tempos change constantly, but usually the band stick on one thing for long enough, so it's transmitted to a listener like me who doesn't not like too fast changes.

DD come from Baltimore. It is easy to tell, that the band are American. Disharmonic, rusty riffage reming me of the likes of Dying Fetus to some extent. This is just rawer, and heavier. The sound is very organic and heavier than your head on a bad hangover morning. Even highest notes aren't truly high, but sound a bit muffled. There's solos and guitar strangulation here, but still it is the riff that rules. As the title might suggest hardcore is a part of DD sound. This is, as mentioned, very dirty. Sometimes there some noise going on in the songs, making things uneasy for those who want it clean and easy. The material is a bit samey during this 29 minutes, so better to have it this way than an hour worth of this. Catchiest fucker is the title track, easily, even though this is wholly catchy as an evil sexual disease. Well performed with live vibe and groove.

Warped intro 'Jesus Loves You' makes clear, that the band attack organised, two-faced religions. 'Serving the Priest' is about paedophile priests. It's all straight words, too. Why hide it behind metaphors or something like that? This is death metal and this is ugly an the message is very clear! Familiar horror themes are also used; zombies, necrophiliacs and such. There's also real life horror stories (e.g. drugs). All with gore and pus, heh. Vocals are varying with many different growls and grunts. As layer, this gives an instant Deicide-feel, like demon/human(?) sharing their thoughts at same time.

Well, I didn't fuck around with this review. Straight words in short review this time, just like Dark Disciple deliver their filth straight.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
03/28/2004 22:20