Do you remember a time in the 90’s when Roadrunner Records were the premier label for releasing solid metal albums? When they were putting out classic albums by Obituary, Sepultura, and Suffocation to name but a few, and before nu-metal came along and ruined everything? Well California’s Disgrace draw heavily from a pool of influences that no doubt includes those bands, and their debut album ‘True Enemy’ has a similar aura about it to some of the all time greats.
Disgrace include 4 out of 5 members of Twitching Tongues, and are fronted by the aforementioned bands guitarist Taylor Young, however there the vocal is often crooned and – dare we say – melodic, ‘True Enemy’ is far more visceral.
This compliments the nature of the music though, as Twitching Tongues play a more doom-laden style of hardcore, yet Disgrace are a full-on metallic onslaught. Within seconds of the titled track from ‘True Enemy’ kicking the record off, it is abundantly clear that this is not going to be a ride for the faint of heart. The low-end, frantic guitar riffs are crushing, calling to mind the work of Obituary, and you would be forgiven if you thought that was Donald Tardy behind the kit with machine gun double-kick work being displayed.
Of course coming from hardcore stock, there are more than a few nods towards the devastating sound of Merauder, with the massive breakdowns on ‘Slave To The Lead God’, and ‘Uncreation’, and they bring a dark and brooding atmosphere to the table on ‘Conquered’ with some subtle lead guitar lines. Musically, there are shades of Twitching Tongues on ‘The Forgotten Land’ and ‘The Well’, but when carried by Young’s deeper, guttural tone it gives them an added sense of aggression and urgency.
Out of the blue, Disgrace do allow the listener a brief respite from the brutality that ‘True Enemy’ provides, with a haunting acoustic segue, but this is over before you know it and the classic heavy metal leaning ‘Bootlicker’ picks the pace right back up again. As the album draws to a close, the tracks do blend into one slightly as they never really deviate from unrelenting chaos, but as the saying goes “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, and Disgrace do not need to fix anything. That being said, the final moments of ‘Closure’ are less extreme metal, and have more in common with Boston icons Only Living Witness, and give way to Young really pushing his vocal to near breaking point and ending the album on an absolute high.
With aggressive music seemingly at an all time high in today, and with bands looking to an older metallic sound and bringing it into a new generation, ‘True Enemy’ has come along at the perfect time, as it is unforgiving, and downright evil. There must be something in the water down in California right now, and with a network of bands that include Nails, Twitching Tongues, Gods Hate, and now Disgrace all being closely knit, their scene will continue thrive and be unstoppable.
GLEN BUSHELL