LOST DISCIPLE RECORDS
P.O. Box 340
Winthrop, MA 02152
Phone: (617) 846-3741
Fax: (978) 975-7633
Email: alhuman@aol.com
Website: LOST DISCIPLE WEBSITE
Burial
“Enlightened With Pain” (10 tracks. 35:39). LOST DISCIPLE.Interesting title. I wonder if it is meant as a philosophical statement, or just a cool album title. Unfortunately, “Enlightened With Pain” didn’t come with lyrics; at least not my copy; therefore, I cannot ascertain whether the title is philosophical or just a title. Either way, it is an intriguing title. Aside from the Cannibal Corpse type vocals there is some really solid American Grind/Death Metal here. Most of the songs are straight forward Death with some heavy duty grind parts complete with blast beats. The production is very clear and the mix is good. The real divergence on this CD is the song “Scorn and Castigation”. This song basically serves as a somewhat “calm” interlude between the Death Metal assault that comes before and after. Interestingly, it is no less intense, just not Metal. It is like an ambient piece, or maybe a “soundtrack” piece. It is made up of some indefinable noises, occasional piano tones (like in a horror movie), and gun shots at the end. What is creepy about this tune is the muffled sound of children playing. Creepy. To summarize, if you’re looking for fast Death/Grind, good production, attitude, and downright demonic vocals, Burial is for you.
Enter Self
“Awaken In Agony” (10 tracks. 38:35).By now I pretty much know what to expect from Lost Disciple Records. Many of their releases are Death Metal, some with Grind elements. But obviously some bands impress more than others. Of the three Lost Disciple bands I’ve reviewed so far, I think Enter Self is by far the best. For one thing, there is a lot of variety in their music. As expected, there are a lot of blast beats and fast riffing, but there is variety. Enter Self do one thing that really distinguishes them from other Death Metal bands: they play songs that are recognizable; you can remember what they sounded like after they are over. They do vary the tempo and let the guitars hold out a chord from time to time. They also play some very moshable muted string riffs which make you want to run around the room knocking furniture over. Of all the Death Metal bands I’ve heard lately, Enter Self’s guitarists play some of the most aesthetically pleasing riffs. And there are some atmospheric stuff on here too. For instance, “Light of Black” provides a soothing acoustic guitar and piano interlude between the first four tracks and the last 5 tracks in a way similar to what Burial did with “Scorn and Castigation”. Next, “Habitual God” is a different kind of tune; slow but powerful. And “Betrayal”, too, is a song with some atmospheric elements; that is, at the times when it isn’t pummeling your head! Listening to Enter Self conjures up images of old Living Sacrifice as well as Morgoth (remember “Cursed”?!) and even some more recent bands like Vader or Decaptitated.
Pandemia
“Spreading the Message” (13 tracks. 29:44).Listening to Pandemia for the first time has been both enjoyable and educational. Their sound is definitely Death Metal, but they sound at times like Emperor playing Death Metal with a slight Morbid Angel touch. I began to reflect on this and it occurs to me that before the advent of Grindcore, Death Metal leaned sometimes toward Thrash, and sometimes toward what is now Black Metal. These days Death Metal rarely shows any connection to these other forms of Metal, and for this reason I feel that Pandemia hearken back to an earlier day, a better day of Death Metal. The production is clear and all the instruments can be distinguished. The vocals are also. Three of the 13 tracks are short intros; little chaotic keyboard pieces, and the last track is an outro. This leaves us with 9 crushing Death Metal tracks. The only criticism is that it is too short, otherwise it is a fine album.