Disfear
- Story by Albert Mudrian
Live the Storm
Producer: Kurt Ballou
Studio: GodCity Recording Studio, Salem, MA
Recording Dates: July 26 - August 7
Release date: February ‘08
Label: Relapse
When Disfear frontman Tomas Lindberg interviewed Darkest Hour guitarist Mike Schleibaum for a special Decibel feature over two years ago, the vocalist opined that it was high time kids stopped heisting the melodic meltdowns of his oft-emulated old band At the Gates and start lifting ideas from fellow Swedish death metal legends Entombed.
“Maybe people have subconsciously listened to my advice,” he laughs, taking a recording break at Kurt Ballou’s GodCity Studios in Salem, MA. Dude may have a point, too. Though no one’s in position to unseat World Burns to Death, Tragedy and Disfear as the trifecta of generation D-beat, it’s clear that even rote fifth-generation metalcore bands are more likely to throw in a rock riff or punk beat now than just a few years ago.
“I try to look at it all like it’s still just hardcore rather than just defining a genre from a drumbeat,” offers Lindberg. “Then again, we have Disfear t-shirts that say ‘Defenders of the D-beat,’ so we’re probably guilty of that as well. But, yeah, I hear new songs coming out that have a little more of a rocky tone and a little bit more of the American hardcore in there as well. It’s not as typical of a Discharge rip-off as it used to be. It has more rock.”
More rock is all that Disfear deliver on Live the Storm, the Swedes’ first new full-length in five years. Despite the lull in between recordings, you won’t get any musical “growth” or “progression” guff from Lindberg. Thankfully, these 10 new tracks are anything but a departure from 2003’s Misanthropic Generation.
“We were actually listening back to Misanthropic Generation the other day here to see how that sounded,” says Lindberg. “The new album is definitely in that vein with the same kind of Motörhead riffs and all that. There’s a little bit more coloration with tones and harmonies, but it’s just detail. The basic stuff is still there. There’s a clearer sound to the drums. You can actually hear what’s going on, but still get that punch in the face. That’s why we went to Kurt. He’s done a lot of good stuff that has the punch, but you can still hear the playing. It could be a rock record. It could be a hardcore punk record. But it’s still total foot-on-the-monitor rock.”
