ILLDISPOSED – Grey Sky Over Black Town
- Posted on 09-06-2016
Danish death metal veterans Illdisposed celebrate their 25th anniversary together as a band with their newest studio album, "Grey Sky Over Black Town". Lone original member Bo Summer continues to impress through a maniacal low bark meets deadly roars on the microphone, while new recruit Rasmus Schmidt (coming in 2014) pummels the drums, ramping up the double bass/ blast action on the opening one-two punch "Again" and "Your Darkest Son". Expect a cavalcade of low tuned guitar rhythms from Jakob Batten and Ken Holst that shift between locked and loaded locomotive parts and full-on sonic destruction to the senses – much like the way Vader or Amon Amarth leave an indelible mark.
What works for Illdisposed best is when they aren’t afraid to inject some outside influences into their tried and true death outlook. Check out "My Flesh Is Sealed" for instance that can be thrashy one minute, then have blackened tremolo picking the next section, or the slightly doom-inflicted "I’m Not One", where the bass and twin guitars just offer up this wall of despair before the frantic death blasts and propulsive metal charge carries the crux of the arrangement. Bo could be Barney Greenway’s double vocally, the lower gruff roar cutting through the proceedings as the best extreme singers can. 10 songs in the main, the digipack version containing three bonus cuts of which "I’ve Been On My Own" was most impressive due to its occasional Machine Head-ish power tendencies.
Serving up a healthy death cocktail with the right power, thrash and blackened spices to offer versatility and dynamics – "Grey Sky Over Black Town" will have little problem appealing to the faithful – and at this point in Illdisposed’s career, keeping the hordes satisfied is the bottom line to a productive career.