Poland's Thy Disease have evolved with time. When they formed in 1999, their trade was death/melodic black metal hybrid, but now they are mingling with modern things. Exactly what they are, will be revealed in this review.

Thy Disease's fifth full length album, 'Anshur-Za' (don't ask, I only got a promo version without lyrics), is quite messy in its supply. Opening with electronic music, 'Blame' also introduced death metal and thereby industrial metal it is. Some kind of crossbreed between 'Odium' (1993) era Morgoth and more modern Fear Factory (e.g. 'Nightmare Scenario'), Thy Disease sound apocalyptic. Later on, nu-metal tuning (nu-metal = devoid of feelings) on guitar can be heard as well as riffs, pop singing (mind you, guys have interesting covers of Depeche Mode and Madonna), industrial techno, Behemoth style death metal (e.g. 'Rotten Structure') and soundtrackish soundscapes. Song structures vary from "pop" to more freeform compositions, making the entirety interesting and sometimes even surprising, and what's very important, grabbing. However, there's another side to this; the album will surely distract many of its listeners. The band manage to skid between the styles effortlessly, but around the middle of the album they need to start recycling things, which is the biggest drawback here. Epic 'Salah-Dhin' is the of highlight of the latter quarter of the album, even though other songs there aren't bad. "Shuffle" play is recommended.

Soundwise this is pretty cold, but thankfully the metal music bits lift up the warmth. Every element in music is well audible, but some things are intentionally left deeper. Lyrically this deals with industrial, apocalyptic feelings when human soul is brainwashed and slaved (just a wild guess by listening to the lyrics), and is a concept album. New World Order, that is. The vocals are varying, going from dry throat stertor to clean singing (from Burton C. Bell-ish voice to pop singing in Depeche Mode and Stinkin' Fart style) and to whispering etc.

If you like modern sounds in extreme metal music, 'Anshur-Za' could be for you. Thy Disease are clashing styles without fear, but are you brave enough to grasp a nettle? Mind you, don't give up after first listening!

Rating: 7- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/08/2010 17:21