Back to Times of Splendor

Melodic death isn’t viewed, by the majority, as a stand out genre within the metal industry. To the majority of hardcore death metal fans, it’s one sub-genre that doesn’t deserve publicity or recognition for it’s exploits due to it’s horrendous sound. It happens to be a sub-genre within death metal that gets a lot of mainstream attention with bands like Amon Amarth pulling in the crowds of impressed youngsters, generally. Personally, I’m not a fan of music tagged melodic. Whether it comes to black or death metal, the melodic sub-genre has never really appealed to my nature, but anything tagged ‘atmospheric‘ appeals to me. Odd. However, this is where Disillusions ‘Back To Times Of Splendor’ comes into the ragged picture to shed some light on a sub-genre considered so unappealing to die hard fans of metal. Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t those out there whom enjoy both the traditional values of a genre and the more popular sub-genres. ‘Back To Times Of Splendor’ bridges an important gap between the experimental side to the sub-genre and the fans who have set opinions on melodic death metal. It is records like this, by Germany’s Disillusion, that show the tired ways of a dying genre in a new light. Personally, after much apprehension and far too much assumptions, I can safely say I love this record.

Do not be deceived by the melodic tag because Disillusion have more than one side to their music. First and foremost, Disillusion cannot be considered straight up melodic death metal due to their progressive influences and superb avant-gardé styling which tends to have a major influence over the general sound of the band. The biggest positive to take from this record is the sole performance of Vurtox or Andy Schmidt, who could easily produce his own music, as a one man act I’d imagine. According to the detailed outline of the record, Vurtox has a lot of control over the creativity and direction that Disillusion wish to take their music in and to me, this is a major positive. As stated, Vurtox controls the following elements of the record, ‘Vocals, guitars, acoustic guitars, bass, keys and orchestral arrangements’. He even writes the lyrics! It’s a number of these elements, such as the acoustic, lead guitars and keys that often make this a surprising outing. Even the vocal exploits took me by surprise due to the fact that Vurtox uses a combination of clean and harsh vocals. Using varied vocals allows for more exploration in terms of moods that the atmospheres can take on. While the harsh vocals may be limited in there approach, the clean vocals are not, which is perfectly shown on the symphonic splendor of ’The Sleep Of Restless Hours’.

The former being something I would not have expected on a record of this nature, but perhaps that’s where the progressive metal influence stems from, as well as the obvious experimental nature of the instrumentation which relies on a variety of instruments to depict it’s themes. From the obvious bass, guitar and drums to the interesting blend of clean vocals, which enhances the overriding melody of the songs, keyboards (which often give a symphonic feel) and even the glorious melancholic melodies of the piano. Due to the fact that Germany’s Disillusion like to blend as many different forms of instruments into the mix, the band has a varied emotional response. Drawing on aggressive and even sad emotions with the use of acoustics and then touching on ecstatic feelings of elation and joy with the catchy lead guitars. The mood shifts are both interesting and intriguing and are achieved by a variety of instruments which can change both tones and textures at the drop of a hat, thus adding to the overwhelming positive thoughts in response to the material in the listener. There is, perhaps overwhelming at times, a complexity about the instrumentation that may put some people off, but given the general consensus, I doubt it.

Experimentation isn’t a drawback for me on this record, it enhances every element of it. The title track is an undeniable example of the brilliance that has gone in to creating this piece of work. I’ve always taken melodic death metal with a pinch of salt, but the catchy lead guitars are definitely a product of a more serious branch of melodic death metal. However, considering the smart use of two guitarists, who layer there riffs, this record won‘t come across as typical of the genre. The title track is the perfect example of how to blend the splendid influences of both melodic death and progressive. The catchy riffs which take hold of the listener like a disease, the clean vocals which will undoubtedly have you singing along and the stunning nature of the orchestral elements, which adds an extra slice of brilliance to the avant-gardé mixture in many different senses. The production is perfectly adept to the proceedings which follow from beginning to end. It has a clean feel, therefore giving each aspect of the instrumentation time to air there individual slants of joyous and jovial styling, as well as any opposing feelings that flow through the records varied perspective. Atmospherically, this record is perfect.