Disma: Towards the Megalith (2011)

Review

Old-school death metal has seen a huge resurgence in the last year or so. So many albums, so little time. Well, let me help you narrow your search. Disma's Towards the Megalith is one of the very best.

Featuring members and former members of Funebrarum, Incantation, and Carnage, you know these guys are veterans. They know death metal is supposed to be filthy and disgusting, and it should sound evil. They never touch the upper registers--hell, they barely even touch mid-range. Satan himself doesn't have a death growl the equal of Craig Pillard's.


Towards the Megalith has rhythms that force your body to move like a zombified corpse. I tapped my toes and bobbed my head the full 46 minutes. Be warned: This strain has gone airborne, and it will infect you. Steamroller doom pace or standard death metal pace, they've got you covered.

On top of that, it has the best production job I've heard on a death metal record in--well, ever. It's organic; it's heavier than anything I've heard this year (except morose doomsters SubRosa); and unlike labelmates Vasaeleth, they didn't have to turn down the volume to achieve it. Fantastic.



The Verdict: There's no reinventing the wheel here, but there is some great composition, excellent performance, and peerless production. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.