Illdisposed: There Is Light (But Not For Me)

Any band who manage to reach their twentieth anniversary deserve to be saluted. In the case of Danish Death Metal act Illdisposed, not only have they managed to attain that milestone, but with their eleventh album There Is Light (But Not For Me) they've done it while still sounding fresh and vibrant. Yes the line up now bears little relation to that which formed two decades ago and the band's sound has added the Gothenburg scene style keyboards to the all out Death Metal of the past. However Illdisposed have managed both of these situations with ease over the years and while their recent releases have been less than essential, TIL(BNFM) finds them re-finding their form.

With the keyboards and synths taking a stronger leading role this time round it would be fair to suggest that modern day Illdisposed is a slightly less aggressive, in your face beast that of days gone by. However the brutal grunts and howls that still emanate from Bo Summer make sure that the intensity of the guitar work of Jakob Hansen is still at the forefront of the music. The likes of "Step Into My Winter" hammers home with a twin tracked vocal, allowing the grunts to be punctuated with something more melodic without compromising the scything riff or pummelling drums. Actually Thomas Jensen's precision drum punishing is the real steadying rock for this album, with riffs, bass flurries and keyboard bursts all given the freedom to roam, and rampage from idea to idea, knowing that Jensen is constantly holding everything together with minimum fuss, but maximum intensity. Not afraid to mix things up a little, the likes of "Rape" offers up a slower marching attack, where the keyboards accentuate the steady progress, bringing atmosphere and poise, while "The Taste Of You" is altogether more melodic and free flowing in nature compared to the adrenalin rush found elsewhere. It is these little breaks from the norm that turns a solid album into something altogether more memorable and relistenable, and a more complete release than many in this genre.

Possibly too light to really satisfy the true Death Metal heads, Illdisposed have served up an album that combines different elements in such a way that the end result benefits from the disparate ideas. Those with a penchant for Metal with aggression and melody will lap this up.

Track Listing
1. Your Own Best Companion
2. Heaven Forbid
3. Our Words Betrayed
4. The Taste Of You
5. As The Day Rottens
6. Reality To Fall
7. Step Into My Winter
8. Rape
9. Sunday Black
10. We
11. Alone

Added: October 28th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Illdisposed Official Web Site
Hits: 1820
Language: english

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