Disgrace - True Enemy

Tracklist:-

1. True Enemy

2. No More Fools

3. Slave To The Lead God

4. Uncreation

5. 1000 Voices

6. Conquered

7. The Forgotten Land

8. The Well

9. Segue

10. Bootlicker

11. The Dawn

12. Conclusion

If years were named after musical genres (like Chinese years are named after animals) then 2015 would be "The Year of Death Metal". It's been full of it, some of which I've tried to cover here before now. Once again it has my attention after reading and listening to the suggestions posted on Metal Injection by Mr Strnad from The Black Dahlia Murder recently. Okay so Disgrace aren't a traditional death metal band and do have influences outside of gore and death, but they're being lauded as one of the best new bands this year and I want to see what all fuss is about.

They've been together as a band since 2011, formed by and featuring musicians from a few solid US hardcore bands. They've got a demo and split to their name, with their first full-length, True Enemy seeing a release on Closed Casket Activities earlier this year. They even got metal artwork royalty to draw the cover for this record.

Disgrace is a raging beast fuelled by thrash, death and hardcore. A lethal mixture of hatred and raw energy right from the off on True Enemy. It’s angular, fast and heavy as hell. Their’s is a modern approach and on No More Fools it’s closer to Unearth than it to Unleashed. From a guy who grew up listening to the former, that’s absolutely fine. Their metallic hardcore opens up more on Slave To The Lead God, breakdowns and all! Musically, it’s very much hardcore orientated and with that in mind they don’t hang about. In fact this very song must surely be a Pit-favourite by now. Uncreation absolutely slays, with pinch harmonics and cymbal crashed aplenty. For a song barely two-and-a-half minutes long, they pack it tight. It takes a lot to create a solid all-round metal album nowadays, especially with all of the copyists but Disgrace pull it off. There’s a great contrast between 1000 Voices and Conquered, with the latter sounding like a classic battle/speed metal album to begin with, while is thick sludgy ending is filled with brooding atmosphere. It takes you into the second-half of the album and throws you straight into the clutches of The Forgotten Land. Pure speed and power is all you need here. The Well is my favourite song on this record by far. It’s the sound of a band really settling into their craft and going all out! The calm instrumental Segue slows the onslaught briefly but only so you can catch your breath. Bootlicker wrestles back the reins easily and turns the thrash-level up while penultimate track The Dawn contains what must be the only solo on True Enemy, which makes only makes it standout even more! There’s still room for one last slab of thick sludge on the aptly titled Conclusion. This is classic thrash through and through and it rounds out a sick album. While some people may think I over-analyse records when I write about them, I really just write how I feel and True Enemy has given me the energy I needed. Good stuff!

You can stream and download True Enemy here:-

Physical records and merch can be purchased from Closed Casket Activities here -

http://www.allinmerch.com/category

Disgrace Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/disgracehardcore
Closed Casket Activities Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/closedcasketactivities