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DISIPLIN ‘Disiplin ’ (Moonfrog Productions) (2004)
I hope that many of you will agree that 2004 has proven to be quite a prosperous year for Metal music. It’s only mid-April, and the number of important new releases is beyond expectation. The latest release which impressed me the most is the debut album form a Norwegian quartet called Disiplin.
The band was formed in the year 2000, after the guitarist and founding member General K decided to quit his former band Myrksgog. General K, a great admirer of legendary bands like Darkthrone, Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer and Metallica, joined forces with Ausslavia (vocals), Krig (rhythm guitars) and Nex (drums) and started recording new material. It didn’t take long for the band to record their first demo, which they then decided to send to Moonfog Productions.
The band’s music was a mixture of all the previously mentioned influences, but still retained the title of Black Metal. This I would believe is the thing that made Moonfog records and personally Satyr (Satyricon’s frontman) show interest in the band. A marathon of questions and suggestions for improvement started between Satyr and Disiplin, and when Satyr felt that the band was ready to produce their first album, he offered them a contract that General K and Co accepted graciously.
"Disiplin" is an eleven-track album with a variety of compositions to choose from. The spirit of Darkthrone and Celtic Frost is present from the very first notes of the opening track "Ultimatum", a song who’s spoken parts were made by Samoth from Emperor. The band is intelligent enough not to fall into the trap which demands all Black Metal outfits to have a lousy "garage" sound and to play in the fastest possible way. Ultimatum is a well-structured composition that manages to become both melodic and aggressive, according to the situation. I am a huge Darkthrone fan, so "Liberation" was received by my ears with great pleasure. This song bears the typical sound that Nocturno Culto and the band established, but the song’s motive is quite doomy and melancholic. "Strategy Formulation" is the song that any Thrash and Death Metal band would wish to have composed, the lyrics of which were written by Bard Faust Eithun. Fast guitar riffs, technical drum themes and Ausslavia’s evil screams were enough to make me push the repeat button a couple of times before moving on to "Kniferegime". A short "military" intro paved the way to a song who’s main riff is a tribute to Bathory. I must have listened to such a riff a thousand times before, but the way it’s presented by Disiplin makes it anything but boring. "The One Who Makes You Crawl" is a song that will bring a smile to the face of any Norwegian Black Metal fan. Hyper-speed guitar riffs and fast double drumming are the main elements of this well-made composition.
The song which stole my heart, though, is "Titan Imperia". This is the band’s darkest and most atmospheric composition, the guitar-work of which is beyond criticism – for me, the best moment of this album. "Hate Engine" could have easily been part of Burzum’s "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" album, based on the song’s main riff. "A Lesson In Disiplin" is an equally interesting atmospheric song – totally different from the fast and aggressive "The Death Song" which follows shortly after. The last two compositions of the album "The Lucifer Principle" and "Under His Horns" are both nicely composed songs, with kept my interest going till the very end, and left me with the best of impressions.
This is quite an impressive debut from a very intelligent extreme band that must be appreciated not only by the fans of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, but also by all the people who enjoy good quality extreme music. A quite capable competitor for the prize of this year’s best extreme release.John Stefanis
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Review by John Stefanis
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