You would never suspect the typical Swedish death metal sound would be found in New Jersey, let alone nearly perfected for the modern era there. Disma has done that and then some with its first full-length for Profound Lore called Towards the Megalith.

There is a very typical Swedish sound to the tracks on this record, but please don’t let that hinder you from buying and ingesting this volatile, ugly and necessary piece of filthy death in a musical eulogy. From the very start of “Chaos Apparition” the brutality settles over your head like a west coast storm cell that simply doesn’t stop intimidating you. The guttural sneering from vocalist Craig Pillard simply screams Grave or obviously Incantation (where he was the growler for many a recording), which is more a conscious tribute than blatant plagiarism at this point; in the style of the aforementioned legends Towards the Megalith seems to find the family tree a little easier than 90% of the other bands out there caustically stealing riffs without regard for style or credit. One listen to “Spectral Domination” pretty much sums up what you get with Disma, and that’s unbridled insanity that doesn’t come off pretentious or contrived. You can tell these guys are influenced by the masters of the death metal genre and pull no punches when applying these trade ideas to their own work, and considering Incantation is one of the masters of the genre it follows naturally that the lineage would be strong with the influence brought to the table.   

When I think of death metal of this caliber it’s hard not to imagine the forefathers of the movement like Grave, Entombed, Edge of Sanity, Incantation, Suffocation, etc. What really makes Disma enjoyable is the utter darkness imbued in the music. “Vault of Membros” is one of the dimmer, moodier tracks on the album and it manages to convey a true sense of unrest or disturbance, which is the best way to describe it without giving way to total gushing triviality. This is not an album to be taken lightly; if your metal heart is not attuned to death metal at its deadliest peak, then it’s probably for the best you steer clear because Disma is not for the wandering nomad; only the chosen few will find enlightenment in Towards the Megalith. There is such a cornucopia of sound going on here that it’s hard to pinpoint the one or two tracks that best exemplify this record; suffice it to say that “Lost in the Burial Fog” is one of the more dangerous tracks on the album in that it conveys genuine feelings of rage and violence. Just as you’re feeling the urge to decimate the inanimate object (or live object, dependant on your particular locale at listening time) the slow-down of a groovy, deathly-trance state saves you from probable jail time. Who needs to take time away from listening to music to explain to boring cops banging on your door? You can always deal with the nosy neighbors later….

The core of Towards the Megalith’s signature is the pure heaviness of the riffs that aren’t over-processed or a quick assembly of chords to supplement the genre’s expectations. For absolute death metal purity for the modern day, Disma is going to be one of the leaders of the movement, this I can almost guarantee. What also impresses me is that they’re a U.S. band that is bringing it hard with intensity, all the while convincing the rest of the world that the States is still a viable sniper in the war on pop-dominated triteness and American Idol banality. For our movement, this is of monumental importance because we need to take back our underground from the posers in the malls infiltrating it. That said, Disma offers no small effort and you need to seek out this album as of yesterday. It’s important and resonating, case closed.  

It amazes me to no end when a band passes my battered and broken desk and manages to force a smile on my perpetually unhappy face due to an honesty and brilliance in music. Disma is going to keep our dingy floating and eventually we’ll board and overtake the motherships and own the tempestuous waters again, by style and force.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Chaos Apparition
2.  Chasm of Oceanus
3.  Spectral Domination
4.  Vault of Membros
5.  Purulent Quest
6.  Lost in the Burial Fog
7.  Of a Past Forlorn
8.  Towards the Megalith

Total playing time:  46:03

Release Date: July 19th, 2011
Label: Profound Lore Records

Disma - Towards the Megalith

Reviewer: Chris

September 26, 2011