Way back in the mists of time that was 1999, Krakow based Thy Disease finished runner up in a Polish Metal based equivalent of X Factor, which I suppose kind of makes these guys the Metal equivalent of G-G-Gareth G-G-Gates. Marvellous… Since then however, rather than just leading a pointless and mediocre existence and knobbing Jordan, they have been musically prolific, and Anshur-Za is their fifth full length release, although by all accounts they have mellowed since their early Death/Black Metal beginnings and now edge towards the Fear Factory neighbourhood of Industrial Melodic Death.
From the opening bars of ‘Blame,’ it’s clear that this was not what I was expecting, with a serious electronic element to the music and what sounds like a Lebanese quanun, before blasting forth with staccato drumming and guitars in homage to Fear Factory. Singer Micha Senajko, (otherwise known as Psycho), has a voice reminiscent of Tiamat’s Johan Edlund back in their Death Metal period, and this sits very well with the music. The interesting juxtaposition of styles makes for a very engaging listen. The fusion of the Death vocals with heavy use of electronics and an occasional clean vocal is initially hugely off-putting, especially on ‘Fog of War’, but it soon becomes quite natural and seamless. ‘Rotten Structure’ is a fine example of aggressive industrial death, with Cloud’s drumming achieving a pace and precision that is Hoglan-esque. ‘Collateral Damage’ sounds simply fantastic, with Psycho’s gravely and heavily accented death rasp providing a superb counterpoint to the simplistic but meaty guitar riffs, backed up by Cube’s melodic and atmospheric keyboard effects. It does take a nasty turn in the bridge however, veering nastily towards Nu-Metal, but that soon passes.
Excellent production values pay dividends to the driving drums and Dariusz Styczen’s lead lined bass, giving a satisfyingly meaty sound, which gives ample support to the heavy guitars and Psycho’s death vocal, and even during some of the clean sung choruses. ‘Nightmare Scenario’ is a case in point, with a chorus that has an overtly commercial appeal, yet remains perfectly congruous within the overall framework. The centrepiece of the album, ‘Freedom for Anshur-Za’ is a track of two halves, built up around furiously oppressive choruses, to a disappointing chorus, clean sung in a particularly whiny and petulant manner. ‘Code Red’ continues the downturn, again largely due to a weak chorus, but the quality returns with ‘Generals Speech’, coming across as a fusion of Archetype era Fear Factory mixed with Strapping Young Lad. The recurrent middle-eastern theme prevails again with a tabala percussion section which is a sublime touch to a bloody cracking track. ‘Salah-Dhin’ has immense depth on a musical level in the verses, but is hamstrung by a slightly annoying chorus, which is a shame because it spoils a very intense and spooky atmosphere. There are two bonus tracks, a cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘Sinner in Me’, which is faithful to the original, albeit significantly heavier with the addition of some chugging guitar. Psycho’s clean vocal here is on excellent form here, this kind of song being the perfect showcase for it. Finally there is a quite unbelievable and genius cover of Madonna’s ‘Frozen’, which let’s face it, always needed a death growl.
‘Anshur-Za’, on the whole is a bloody good album. It’s heavier than Dino Cazares on a Ginsters pasty diet, and has some superb artful touches and nuances, polished off with a production right out of the top drawer. If this is the kind of thing that can be found through these God awful TV talent shows, then why the fuck are we British having to put up with the kind of insufferable putrid filth that the X Factor and all it’s nasty clones spew out every year like a big fluffy Panda with irritable bowel syndrome. I for one would like to start a motion to attach jump leads to Simon Cowell’s testicles until he agrees to a metal version of X factor so we can find our own Thy Disease. Actually scratch that idea, lets just attach jump leads to the bastard’s plums for no other reason than for shits and giggles.
http://www.myspace.com/thydisease
