Disiplin – Radikale Randgruppe (2010)

Usually when we get stuff from ATMF we are very excited since they have some of the most different and interesting releases, with Disiplin’s fourth full-length release we find ourselves puzzled and a bit disappointed with the end result. Mixing Black Metal with Industrial/Ambient elements the band manages to create a very disturbing sound that is very effective for a couple of songs only.

“Radikale Randgruppe” kicks-off with a very straight forward Industrial Black Metal sound with catchy beats and crushing guitars. As dissonant as this may sound, it’s pure evil and creates a dense atmosphere, something that is continued with the second track “Me Ne Frego”. The flow is somewhat hindered by the uninspired and very repetitive “Triarii”, here is were you start to notice the band will fire blanks for the rest of the album since the drums are very dull and similar to the first songs and the overall atmosphere gets a bit stale.

The band does try to change things around, but sounds very chaotic when doing this. In tracks like “White Earth” we get a different beat that is nice and everything but it’s very plain. Things take a darker more Drone-like turn with “Oath of Blood”, and I’m sure this is where most people will either stop listening or just completely get hooked on the band.

While there is nothing wrong in the band experimenting like crazy in every single track, we find it very annoying that all songs seem very disconnected and that the simple beats can’t make up for unintelligible distorted guitar riffs and barely there hellish vocals.  Yes, this crushing atmosphere is effective and all, but not in this very chaotic way. Most of the album dabbles with interesting ideas that have been over exploited in each track to the point of being dull.

Disiplin has some good ideas and some solid tracks (“The Golden Age”, “Exile” and “Me Ne Frego”), but the album fails as a whole. Experimentation is good, and there is some interesting potential in “Radikale Randgruppe”, but we think it needs to be done in a more cohesive manner. However, if you like creepy as fuck stuff and don’t mind the total randomness of a bunch off things slapped together, then Disiplin’s latest release should be a great find for your ears.

Release: December 2010

Country: Norway