Review Summary: Dynamic Cohesion
Some know him as the secondary shredder from 'Spiritual Healing'. Others know him for his phenomenal leads on 'Cause of Death'. However, a true James Murphy fan will tell you that his best recorded output is that of his own band, Disincarnate. In 1993 they released a flawless album of death metal perfection that hasn't been matched since. Indeed, it seems like 1993 was the pinnacle of metal, and afterwards very very little else was released that was worth listening to. That's due largely in part to this decimator of an album.
Imagine if you took all 7 Death albums and combined them all into one cohesive package, with James' signature face melting solos on every track, and a different vocalist. That's the best descriptor you can get until you actually hear this mammoth.
Vocally, we have a mix of 'Blessed are the Sick'-era David Vincent and early Deicide Glenn Benton. Which is awesome. Lyrically we have a nice treat here, some very deep, thought provoking subject matter is tackled which totally fits the dark tone of the album. The drums are super cohesive and neither detract from the music nor try too hard to be technical. They simply play EXACTLY what they should. The same can be said about the bass. Excellent rhythm section.
Of course, the real bread and butter here is the guitars. Everyone knows the man can solo but MY GOD the riffs on this album. It's no secret James is a Gorguts fan, his incredible guest solo on Inoculated Life from 'Considered Dead' is testament to that. But it's easy to see that he was so inspired by them that he actually named his band after the third track on that album (Disincarnated). The riffing style in that song is very similar to the riffs on this album, amazing in both cases. The best thing about the album, however, is that each song sounds completely different while sounding very similar. Again, you have to hear it yourself to understand. Only on a Death or Morbid Angel album will you hear riffs that resolve as well as these ones do. Tempo Changes are abundant as well, from doom sections to razor sharp tremolo. It's amazing how catchy these songs are.
Simply put, this is just about the most consistent death album of all time along with Altars of Madness, Deicide & Human. There is no standout track. Entranced is playing right now as I write this, so i'll recommend that one, but missing ANY of these songs in your library automatically makes you an imbecile. The argument could definitely be made for greatest album of all time here, not even of just metal.
Also worth noting is that this is the only time in history where the bonus tracks actually add to the album. they're 3 demos of album songs, with much rawer production and much louder solos. frankly i ***ing love them. and believe me, this album is SO good that you actually want to hear these 3 songs again even when you've just heard the whole phenomenon/album.
All sputnik users existing prior to me posting this review should be banned for letting this go so long unreviewed.
