Disgusting - Disgusting EP (1996)

A year after the lackluster debut Shapeshifterblues, Norwegians Disgusting would produce one more release through Head Not Found records, a self-titled EP which focused on a more intense iteration of the band. Stylistically there is not a huge boost or difference between this material and what you'd find on the full-length. The band seem to use the same, underwhelming production values that sound like a glorified demo or rehearsal. Granted, some bands can really make this work. Disgusting is not among them. You've also got the same variation of death/grind riffs and clean guitar sequences that play towards the psychedelic span of the cover image (which is quite interesting, honestly).

"Immemorial" christens the effort with a blazing trail of muddy death/grind, vocals alternating from the same low guttural pitch to the relentless, distorted rasp while forgettable riffs flurry beneath. The drums are pretty fast, but I just don't like the sound, and when they break out into the Sepultura-like wailing siren guitars in the bridge, you feel like you've just entered the Norse equivalent to Roots. "Undivided Impulse" uses a lengthy clean sequence with flowing bass and some bluesy leads with a pretty bland tone, picking up into an explosion of metal fusion before the baleful groove riff at the end with grind screaming over it. "Fall Feeble" transitions from crunchy doom to a thrashing death blitz with semi-sweet riffing that actually benefits from the raw buzz and bristle of this guitar tone. "Kannibaal" is a mess of dull death, grinding riffs that attempts to pick up the intensity from the prior song, then break it down into a morose breakdown of big chords and searing leads, only to become monotonous in short order. The outro track is even worse, with ultimately futile chords over a slow beat and some snarling.

Disgusting is not an improvement over Shapeshifterblues, but just more of the same fusion of death, grind, slower doom/sludge riffs and duplex vocals, given a 'thoughtful' side through the occasional use of the clean guitars. I counted perhaps one worthwhile riff on the whole EP, that being in "Fall Feeble", and the rest not even remotely compelling to the ear. It's a shame, really, because there were just so few Norse death metal bands of note, their strength clearly across the gulf of extremity on the shores of black metal. LJ Balvaz' other band Cadaver was far better than this, as was Molested, or the debut of Darkthrone A Soulside Journey, so stick with those.

Verdict: Fail [3.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/thetruedisgusting

Disgusting - Shapeshifterbirthblues (1995)

The surreal, haunting cover vortex to this obscure Norse death metal record truly hints at something 'different', especially when used in conjunction with the interesting title Shapeshifterblues, but really, Disgusting were a fairly standard act for their day, with a mix of gargled Florida-style death metal, higher pitched snarling vocals which oft remind of early metalcore, grind, sludge or black metal, and perhaps a slight hint of progressive nature that doesn't live up to the visual expectations. It doesn't surprise me that Disgusting were unable to stand out from the crowd in 1994, because they did not even really stand apart from the few Norwegian peers they had in this style, like Molested.

It'd be nice to think of this as some incubator band, with members moving on to other extreme projects, but that's not really the case here. Lasse Johansen (LJ Balvaz), who had already performed in Cadaver, still wallowed in obscurity by the mid 90s, and most of members of this band formed a punkish group called The Rabiators. Aside from the use of acoustic segments, which might have felt more novel in the mid 90s as opposed to today's spree of progressive death metal acts centered around Opeth's inspiration, there are very few moments of interest. The riffing isn't exactly hack, and the band do not shy away from a use of melodies when it suits the material, but they very rarely leave any impact on the listener, due to the lack of decent production and infectious note patterns.

Thus, all their attempts at branching out into a more progressive, folk tinged variety seem to fall below the radar. "Fuch-sia" incorporates a bluesy, drifter solo in the midst of its rambling clean guitars and dull chords, like a sandbar amidst the shallow and unmemorable death metal riffing. "Me and My Mind" is chunky, with some grinding and thrashing explosions where the vocals shift from guttural to snarling like a grind band. "My Shade" features some reeling, swinging rhythms that unfortunately do not produce attentive note structures, and "Voluspa" seems at times like a dull Bathory 90s Viking track with different vocals and popping bass. The album picks up for some of its finer, aggressive songs only at the end, with "Shapeshifterblues" and "Gasp At Your Final Breath", but even these fail to really deliver much meat. "Slimy" might be the single most interesting piece, an interlude of glinting acoustic guitars that dissolves into a primal sludge bass backdrop behind a montage of cussing samples.

Few things thrill me more than the veneration of a great, classic death metal gem, but this album is simply not such an occasion. Points for trying to spread themselves out into a more pensive, intelligent alternative to the more direct brutality of their peers, but the music simply is not of the quality to back up the intentions, and the record quickly becomes tiring, with only a few moments of intensity that tend to manifest as a solo or a single riff in the midst of mediocrity. The production of the record is pretty loose and organic, but does little service to the guitar tone or the way the chords interact over the cleaner drums or the vocals.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/thetruedisgusting