Thy Disease

Anshur-Za

Written by: PP on 30/09/2010 03:00:04

Thy Disease have an interesting proposition for the (death) metal fan. Instead of relying on age old recording techniques in a hopeless attempt to artificially create some sort of underground atmosphere to their record, they have opted for crystal clear, precise, tight modern production on their new album "Anshur-Za". Some passages may well come across as slightly mechanical, but considering the strong industrial metal undertones on the record, it suits the music well. A lot of modern death metal bands do just that with their music, but what really separates Thy Disease from the rest is their daring usage of effect-laden electronics, sometimes to the extent that I have jotted down "Enter Shikari of the metal world?" into my notes prior to writing this review. Particularly the second album by the aforementioned seems to have been the inspiration here, alongside Pendulum's hits, considering how closely the keyboards in a track like "Nightmare Scenario" follow those two bands' recent output.

But lets make it clear that Thy Disease are still very much a metal band. There are very few distinctly pop-oriented elements to be found in their music, especially when compared to a band like Raunchy, whose "Death Pop Romance" has possibly also influenced Thy Disease prior to the writing of this record. Clean vocal choruses are more like the exception than the rule here, which is why when they are used, they are pretty damn effective. "Fog Of War", for instance, is the most Raunchy-sounding track on the record in terms of modern 'cyber' electronics usage, injecting a memorable, Sonic Syndicate-esque clean chorus in the middle of the industrial electronics to really make the song stick. "Moral Supremacy" is similar in that sense, but here the clean chorus is simultaneously contrasted by the raspy main vocals on the background. It's pure ear-candy, I'll tell you that much.

For the majority of the time, however, Thy Disease focus on writing riff-driven death metal songs, that are simply spiced up and made more interesting by the addition of haunting electronics. They are integrated with enough thought and skill to avoid a trendy, Lifeforce Records-esque feeling altogether, and instead the listener is drawn towards how solid the serpentine riffs are, and how varied the overall instrumentation is. That's why they can pull of the blatant Pendulum/The Prodigy imitation in certain parts of "Generals Speech", for instance. The riffs are dynamic, and the song extremely well composed, consisting of structures that each feel like the polar opposites from one another, but somehow fit together in the big picture supremely well. The drumming should not go unnoticed either, because this dude is capable of both rapid-fire blast-beats when necessary, but also of technical licks that give the album its overall slick sound picture. So basically, if the electronics from acts like Enter Shikari, Raunchy, Pendulum, The Prodigy, etc have always intrigued you, but you've wished them in a more brutal, more metal format, then Thy Disease and "Anshur-Za" is an excellent option for you to check out. If nothing else, it proves that it's possible to integrate non-traditional metal elements into the genre without coming across as either poseurs, sell-outs, trendy, or all of them at once.

p.s. the electro-metal cover of Madonna's "Frozen" is hilarious and well-executed.

Download: Fog Of War, Moral Supremacy, Generals Speech
For the fans of: Raunchy, Pendulum, Sybreed, Deadlock
Listen: Myspace

Release date 19.04.2010
Mystic Production

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