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I’m not sure what Disrotted means (as it concerns the band's completely rotted sound) but I know that in the case of this band and their self-titled album it doesn't mean they're a death metal band or one of the number of grindcore/d-beat Dis- bands. No, this Chicago outfit is all about the doom. Massive, droning, punishing, hateful doom. Disrotted is four tracks spread over 43 minutes that push the listener to the edge of endurance.
"Spell of Madness" starts off the lumbering hate with a hammering plod and a spiraling atonality rising from the muck. Deep growls emanate from the depths beckoning death with a slavering malevolence. Turning the gigantic marching pace into something more dynamic, black metallic tremolos (still downtuned as fuck) push the pace and instill a different sense of terror.
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| Photo by Carmelo Española. |
The aptly titled "Brain Death" is a harrowing endeavor with driving notes cracking the ground to send the listener tumbling in slow motion into the abyss, slamming into every outcrop on the way down to be left broken and alone. One can't help but scowl in the face of the way they can manifest such a sense of dread. A scowl more of accomplishment than of displeasure. At this point those not as accepting of molasses thick doom may find their attention wandering but this sort of measured and persistent cadence isn't easy to pull off while creating such sinister and dark atmosphere. Yet it’s the kind of heaving, stunning doom that resonates through the whole body no matter how you choose to experience it.
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| Photo by Carmelo Española. |
"Celestial Empire" seethes with an unstoppable hatred, stomping everything in its path. Noisy feedback makes the blood runs cold. This is far from the traditional sense of doom (Trouble et al.) brought to the fore through lyrics but rather it is brought upon through tone and heaviness. Again, Disrotted move from long, drawn out notes into more blackened ones like cresting a hill and racing down its slope to crash into their instruments making monumental reverberations spread like the sonic break of a nuclear bomb.
Closing out this test of mental stamina is "Restless Death". Again aptly titled as the listener squirms under the relentless plod toward their final end. Strained amps fight to stay together as hints of melody poke through the din. Arresting feedback and growls most foul call an end to the suffering endured with a pleasurable pain.
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| Photo by Carmelo Española. |
Disrotted is simply devastating. The wheel turns, the path is drawn and all those (un)lucky enough to find themselves buried beneath the putrid piles of ultimate doom Disrotted leave in their wake first tremble under the sickening might before succumbing to the rot.