Burn Me Wicked

I've already read many response to this record and many fans thought that this album was the first sign of Illdisposed's potential decadence. I don't get it why it should be, in my opinion it's a mature release, almost as strong as the previous, but not better. The songs are as good as they were on 1-800, but they have the same structure, similar melody patterns and so on. It's not a problem however, because the melodies are different, but at the first time the absence of the progression can be felt.

The only significant change is that they left out the metalcore clean vocal parts and put heavy/power style vocals instead. This was a good choice and they had the perfect man to perform it (Mikkel Sandager from Mercenary). Well, the song 'Nothing to Fear... Do it' was a bit unusual for me, more to say, I didn't like it at all because of the dragonkiller-heavy metal vocals, but when I got used to it, I realized that this is one of the best songs on this record. We can find many other strong tracks here, for instance the first four tracks (and among them, 'Back to the Streets' is the best), and 'Fear the Gates' which has a little At the Gates taste (just as their earlier song, 'Near the Gates' has this similarity). At last but not at least I have to mention their really nice thrash'n'roll song 'Illdispunk'd', it's in Danish (I suppose) except its chorus which is nothing but spelling ILLDISPOSED. This track is as primitive as catchy, a nice one. The two bonus tracks are okay, one of them is 'Dark' from '1-800 Vindication', which is not as good as I expected but not bad either, the other is 'Weak Is Your God' from 'The Prestige' which is much better.

This is the second album from the band's best era and I won't say the last good album from them because I still see the potential in them, however, I think they've lost their way nowadays. If there's anybody doesn't familiar with this band and want to choose between 1-800 Vindication and this, well... I don't have a good advice, the two records are almost the same. However, this album would be enjoyable for those who liked 1-800 Vindication or simply like the modern Danish melodeath (with a few experimental elements).

( Originally written for http://kronosmortus.hu )

The boys are back in town!

Believe me when I well you that 2006's "Burn me Wicked" of Denmark's finest Illdisposed is a creepy successor to their last brainchild "1-800-Vindication". This album is quite weird and creates a wholly different atmosphere than any of the other LPs they've put out. Although they have not had any significant label or band member changes in the previous two years, the music has changed significantly. Gone are the most Gothenburg resembling riffs and overall ambiance and gone are the most catchy tunes that were the most obvious. This means that you have to dig a little deeper to find those really special parts of an album, because of the great subliminal potential of "Burn me Wicked".

Right from the start the album leaves no room for any too groovy stuff and gets right to the point with fast drumming and muddy riffing. The songs all seemingly explode into a firework of different energetic parts and pieces, most of the time with a fierce bustle. Even though this is the same band, if you were to listen to this album before you've heard any of the others, you would be surprised with the aggressive turn (cencerning modern day material, of course) the band has taken. When the songs are not busy chasing their own tails, they progress in a very linear manner, only to become really strange at certain bridge or pre-chorus parts. Sometimes these scenarios are created, again, using a lot of great guitar effects and synthesizer breaks. It's safe to assume that these people knew what they were doing when they put out yet another giant in the modern day scene. The hard thing about releasing new stuff is to make it sound modern, true to its style but interesting at the same time. To be more specific, this is exactly what I want to listen to when it's something modern. It has every element that the ever "developing" metal scene is lacking, be it great soli, straightforward songs that accentuate a certain point and of course the good metaphorical lyrics that are well-wrapped and talk about certain aspects of life, be it of a conflict nature, drug-related, whatever you name it. Another great aspect is that the band's voice, Bo Summer, (or subwoofer as he likes to call himself) delivers one of the best vocal duties in his whole career on this LP. He may have cut the clear singing and left it to a friend of the band Mikkel Sandager, but while doing this, he concentrated more on his rasp and guttural duties, which are by all means quite fierce and awe-inspiring. This is the way a vocalist has to present the band's music, with a straight vigor and a good determination.

Having absolutely no fear whatsoever that Illdisposed would ever put out a completely shit album or begin making shitty music to please whoever, I was naturally very pleased when I heard this disc. The last track "Illdispunk'd" is exactly the translation of the band's message to anyone and everyone who makes a bitch out of themselves when it comes to creating something as important as this kind of music. It also expresses their sense for humor, which is of course quite original, to add up. Burn me Wicked, you live up to your name. Illdisposed: keep it coming, we'll never get tired of your shite!

(originally written for the metal observer 8.11.09)

This is one hell of a weird album. 'Burn Me Wicked' is my first venture into the strange world of Illdisposed after hearing good things about their previous offering, the horrendously titled '1800-VINDICATION'. Having also heard of the dubious 'modern metal' tag that often describes utter shite, I never expected something this good; it's addictive, ironically.

The sound is certainly death metal, thankfully avoiding the modern mishaps of soulless melodic sellouts and maintaining a standard of crunching, occasionally chugging deep riffing that makes for excellent headbanging. However, the record is lifted above others in the genre by the interesting, sometimes really weird, usage of industrial overtones and sampling. This makes the overall feel very harsh and adds an epic quality that really makes each song stand out. All instruments work well together, with some fluid solo work occasionally peeping through . The drumming is good and has a lot of menace, just as it should; the opening track, for example, showcases how all parts of the band can be used to achieve what they want and put across their sound. The use of samples is illustrated well by the creepy 'Slave' that reminds of these guys featuring on the 'Saw' film soundtrack; the snatches of dialogue add a rather chilling undertone.

The vocals are something else. Bo Summer is appropriately given as 'subwoofer' in the liner notes. His vox alternate from an incredibly deep, threatening death growl (reminiscent of the machine-menace of Meshuggah in parts) to an higher, almost blackened scream. This is not only done effortlessly, but really adds an eerie, inhuman element to the parts where Bo alternates the vocals into a kind of weird duel with himself. Duel, not duet. Apparently these guys asked the vocalist from Mercenary to be a guest voice on some songs, and he actually mixes well, adding a semi-power metal voice (never heard Mercenary, so don't know how they sound). In 'Our Heroin Recess' and the stunning title track, the vocals are layered in such a way that a cacophony of hellish screams really makes this worth listening to; in 'Burn Me Wicked' especially, the growls and screams of Bo are combined with the smoother crooning of the guest vox with fantastic results. Usually, vocals are not that important to me, as long as they don't distract from the guitar work. Here, however, they deserve a major mention, being the album's key in a way.

The general theme of lyrics and artwork (good, if not that different from every other band with this topic) is that of addiction and breakdown of relationships. 'Case for the Late Pig' makes for the strangest family postcard ever, with the kinda sweet message of an absent father to his sons made very disturbing by the harsh vox and industrial pounding of the song, sounding more like a threat than a love letter. 'Black Widow' is a very good piece of heaviness somewhat hampered by the vitriol of the lyrics that accuse Courtney Love of murdering Kurt Cobain; riiiiiiiight..... 'Illdispunk'd' is a metal-punk novelty that will nevertheless have you shouting along for days - in three languages, no less. Besides these lyrical oddities, all songs stand out on their own; it would be too tiresome to describes what makes each one unique, but there is variety without compromise of the sound.

This is a good album for death metal fans, and could attract anyone interested in industrial. There is melody and brutality without becoming 'core-ish or in-flames-ish, and the vocals, atmosphere and music mix very well. 'Burn Me Wicked' has become a favourite of mine, and I recommend it to anyone interested in a good headbanging session. It's not the best out there, but you could do a lot worse - just don't mention this to Courtney...

In 2004, the Danish death metal band Illdisposed released an album called '1-800-VINDICATION'. It was their first release on Roadrunner and I would definitely say that Illdisposed is one of the better bands on the label that are still putting out real quality metal today. The album had samples, clean vocal parts next to Bo Summer's death metal grunts and was melodic and catchy overall while still maintaining a brutal death metal sound.

Illdisposed's second outing on Roadrunner is a disc called 'Burn Me Wicked'. The overall sound of their new album is again, very modern and a lot of it can easily be compared to '1-800-VINDICATION'. There are however, a few changes this time around and fans that liked their older albums more will be very pleased with this. All of the music is written by guitarist Jakob Batten. A lot of the songs have parts that are really fast again and, at times, it feels like a throwback to an older album they did, namely 'There's Something Rotten…in the State of Denmark'. So if this album is one of your favourite ones, you have something to look forward to in 'Burn Me Wicked'.

The album starts out with a song called 'Shine Crazy' and the riffing in this one is fast and massive, it immediately made me realise that there was something different about 'Burn Me Wicked' in terms of speed. Next up is 'Case of the Late Pig' which uses a combination of catchy riffs and samples that just works perfectly, instantly making it one of my favourite Illdisposed songs. Another song that deserves mentioning is 'Burn Me Wicked', the titlesong, which is incredibly melodic and also one of their best songs to date. Songs like 'Back to the Streets' and 'Our Heroin Recess' remind me a lot of '1-800-VINDICATION'. A track called 'Fear the Gates' seems to be an ode to 'Near the Gates', a song they did before back on 'There's Something Rotten…in the State of Denmark'. 'Throw Your Bolts' might be a reference to Bolt Thrower, another great death metal band, from the UK. 'Slave' is, surprisingly, Illdisposed's death metal interpretation of the Depeche Mode song 'Master and Servant'. The final song on the album and the closer is called 'Illdispunk'd' and does exactly what the title says, it takes the Illdisposed sound and transforms it into a death metal/punk hybrid with a little comedy added in between.

Bo Summer (also the vocalist for another death metal band, Panzerchrist) is definitely one of the best harsh vocalists in death metal today, the man switches between deep growls and screechy grunts like it's nothing. Illdisposed recruited Mercenary's Mikkel Sandager as a guest vocalist to do clean vocals in four songs and he does a great job here. 'Burn Me Wicked' is a stellar modern death metal release and should not be missed, highly recommended.

Originally written for http://www.gothtronic.com