The long standing Swedish Punksters known as Disfear may now be comprised of two prominent figures of the Swedish Death-Metal scene with the recent addition of former Entombed man Uffe Cederlund to the ranks as second guitarist, At The Gates throat Tomas Lindberg being the notable other, but their newest offering “Live The Storm” doesn’t see them venturing any further into Gothenburg or Stockholm Death-Metal. Sure its predecessor “Misanthropic Generation” already showed some hints of Entombed Death n’ Roll-style, but the foundations of Disfear’s sound still firmly lies somewhere between Discharge and Motorhead.“Live the Storm”, the Swedes sixth full-length continues to exhibit the duh-dun-duh-duh-dun drum pattern more commonly known as D-beats of Discharged and Tragedy mixed with the galloping riffs of Motorhead, coupled with some guitar slides proper of sleazy rock bands like Zeke or Turbonegro. If anything we could say “Live The Storm” is a more approachable work when compared to their previous works largely thanks to the production job of Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, whose renowned skills grants the dirty, crusty sound of Disfear a certain crystalline quality. But worry not because it’s still as fierce and crushing as expected from Disfear and just don’t take my word for it. Listen to the leadoff track “Get It Off” with its rapid, crusty riffs and an angry, hardcore vocal delivery of Lindberg, whose larynx will certainly need some corrective surgery in a near future, backed up by shouty-styled vocals at the chorus. “The Cage” and the title theme are other good examples of such frenetic speed, with some great Rock soloing thrown in the middle. Elsewhere, both “Testament” and “Phantom” sees the quintet slowing the tempo a tad to add a certain groove and contrast to the remaining songs.
Bottom line, “Live The Storm” is a monster record that will grow on you with repeated listens and I strongly suggest you to acquire two copies just in case the first worn out. (7/10)
Band info: www.disfear.com
Label info: www.relapse.com
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