Disarmonia Mundi
THE ISOLATION GAME
Coroner Records

There was a time that the European thrash sound that was referred to as Gothenburg was all the rage. Really it wasn't that long ago that bands like IN FLAMES and SOILWORK were making exciting albums and putting on stunning live shows. It was making enough of a mark that these bands were getting to tour the United States in an effort to broaden their fan base. I know because I got to see these bands several times myself. Unfortunately the flip side of that experience was that these very same acts were becoming increasingly influenced by the NWOAHM sounds of bands like SHADOWS FALL and TRIVIUM, and in the case of IN FLAMES, KORN.

Now this is always a tight rope that bands try to walk. How do you gain more fans without losing your base at the same time. Well for just about every band throughout history they have found that it can't be done. So the Gothenburg bands were no exception. The sound has been so bastardized at this point that it is barely listenable. The last really good release that I can recall was by these guys, DISARMONIA MUNDI. Their 2004 album Fragments of D-Generation was a brain crusher in my opinion. Great tempos and the scorching vocals of the the one and only Bjorn "Speed" Strid of SOILWORK. 2006's follow up Mind Tricks just didn't leave me with the same feeling of exhileration. So now three years have passed and we have been given The Isolation Game. Can these guys help ressurrect the sound?

The short answer is no. That being said this new album is not a complete waste of time by any means. It's a damn sight better than anything IN FLAMES or SOILWORK has released in the past 5 years. The tempos are still here tearing the joint up until the chorus kicks in. Therein lies part of the problem. Most tracks have the same blue print. The guitars getting slightly more melodic and progressive when the chorus kicks in thus allowing the clean vocals to make their mark. For me that's a negative because the clean vocals are tired and formulaic in 2009. Strid is still listed as a vocal contributor, as are two other guys for that matter. I would have enjoyed these tracks more if they had just let Strid do his thing for longer periods of time. By doing so the songs would have come across as less progressive, but a lot heavier at the same time. Just listen to "Blacklight Rush" to see what I mean, that bastard is an absolute skull smasher!

PITRIFF RATING - 6/10 - I went into this album hoping beyond hope that DISARMONIA MUNDI could stir something in me that made IN FLAMES my favorite band once upon a time, and made Fragments of D-Generation one of the top albums of 2004. While the band doesn't mail in the effort The Isolation Game failed to truly grab my attention either.

Shawn Gould

Amazon