Germany’s Disbelief are pretty good at getting their albums out there nice and quick – this being their eighth since 1997. I guess it could be easy to dismiss Disbelief as another Death/thrash metal band from Europe plying their trade. However, as previous album Navigator showed, they have a very good knack of mixing the brutality with some awesome grooves. And on “Protected Hell”, it seems we have more of the same delightful, metallic mayhem. Karsten Jager’s vocals are a definite high point and he carefully provides some sinister vocals that are effective without being grating. There is a certainly a Van Drunen twang to his vocals which is certainly not disappointing.
Where Disbelief succeed is in the ability to produce some catchy riffs that are brutal and yet still keep the song away from the bland territory. Tracks such as “A place to hide”, “Nemesis Rising” and “The Return of Sin” all illustrate this point with the guitars having a nice thrashy feel to them. The sound on Protected Hell at times does remind me of early Soilwork (before they went to the land of the commercial big buck) but the difference is that Disbelief are that little bit more experimental in what they do. Slower sections breaking up catchy rhythm work, but this only adds to the dynamic of the songs. Whereas on previous releases, the slow sections lent themselves more to a sprawling atmospheric feel, the melodic parts on show here are used to add to the dynamic already present within the songs. Spoken vocals over the melodic/harmonic sounding work all gives Protected Hell a bit more variety which is welcomed. This all adds enjoyment to the listen and makes it ultimately a cd that you will come back to for e second spin.
Where Disbelief have their biggest success though is with the mid paced stuff. The brutally catchy guitar playing is allowed to breathe, and the guitar sound (which is awesome) is allowed to have full effect, such as on track “Hell Goes On” or with the groove present in the intro to “The Dark Soundscapes”.
This is also a where there could be a possible criticism though. Disbelief know what they’re good at and what has the maximum impact, but this can lead the album to being slightly samey and a little one paced at times. However, if that doesn’t bother you and you like your guitar sound meaty and mid paced then you won’t really care less!! And overall, Protected Hell is a good release.
In terms of how different this is from Navigator? Well, this is a continuation with a tiny bit of tinkering here and there. I guess if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it. And that works very well for these boys. If you haven’t heard of them, crave early Soilwork era sounding metal, or are even a fan of Arch Enemy then this might interest you. Give Protected Hell a listen as it may well surprise you and reel you in!
http://www.disbelief.de
http://www.myspace.com/disbeliefmetal
