'Expositionsprophylaxe'?! It is something like a measurement of hygiene. For example cleaning a room to minimize the risk of catching illness. Just check out the cover art. Well, you get even dirtier stuff on the album itself!

Disharmonic Orchestra released their debut full length album after 3 years of "throwing shit", so to speak. The band's mixture of death metal and grindcore had distinctiveness written all over it. The music sounded like how only these three fellas could have made it sound like.

The drummer Martin Messner's mutable and at times absolutely dexterous, and lightning-fast, beats drive forth the buzz created by guitarist Patrick Klopf and bass player Herwig Zamernik. Mr. Messner throws everything from blast beat to polka, from groovy rocking to D-beat, but not the usual straight double kick drum comp. One general trait of DO's compositions are the tempo changes. Sometimes they do work fluidy, but can also kind of cut a song and start a new one inside one.

The weird, muffled yet sharp-ish guitar is all about riffs, no solos heard here, but there are some nasty guitar shrieks. Variety of guitar tones are utilized, from nasty and ripping to ominous and weird. The bass blends in with the guitar, making some appearances every now and then. Anyway, various beats provide fertile ground for the diverse stringed instrument playing.

Mr. Klopf's growl is rather unvarying, but hearty and comprehensible, and reverbed, so it is more than okay. There's some bits used to lift up the atmosphere, such as the acoustic guitar and the synthesizer, but both only infrequently heard. Some of the songs are more death metal than grindcore, and some are the other way round.

Sound-wise, this divides my opinion. The mixing is mostly shite. Generally, all the instruments are audible, but still the bass could've been much louder in the mix, especially when the drums are louder than anything else. Generally, the album could have sounded way more powerful and punishing. Now it sounds uneven. However, the way this album does sound, still lifts up the sense of Disharmonic Orchestra's style. I think it is more important to have some kind of clarity than only noise, because the songs deserve to be heard.

As is the way in grindcore, the lyrics deal with shitty politics, with polluting and raping the Earth, and with destroying humans. Mostly pretty ingenuously written, and also including some naive rhyming, but still fun to read.

'Expositionsprophylaxe' offers a very rhythmic metal experience. It is not an easy one, and a listener must really give it time and one's attention to really get most out of it. This one is highly recommended for death/grindcore fanatics.

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/04/2009 18:18