As I’m sure the most brutal of the brutal already know, there is a new Disgorge CD out. As I’m sure they also know, this latest offering of hitting the snare drum really fast, burping into a microphone and tastefully incorporating 38-variations of the same chug-chug riff into each song does not fail to deliver the goods. All joking aside, Disgorge is honestly one of my favorite metal bands and would easily be top-dog if the Westminster Kennel Club featured a breed called the "Gurgle-Blast Hound." With thick production and songs that are more memorable than those on past releases, Disgorge has graced us with a wonderful slab of metal that will ensure the hardness of brutal meatwands for years to come.

I know that the primary concern for most Disgorge fans will be the vocals. Might I ask these NASA-employees a question: why? Do you care that much about the specifics of the gurgle performance on a CD? If a CD has top-notch musicianship and great production, will it be a deal-breaker if the burpsmanship isn’t up to your impeccable standards? That being said, the new vocalist Levi does a very respectable job of orally farting into a microphone. The vocals are aggressive and strong and, as far as I can see, leave very little to be desired. Some may complain that these vocals are just not up to par with former vocalist Matti Way. To this multitude of brutalers, I would like to ask you to shut your collective food tubes. The belching on this CD is just fine and dandy. And honestly, if the difference between loving or hating a gurgle-blast CD hinges solely on whether the burpist is hitting notes seven or seven and a half octaves below the bassist’s already detuned B-string, I question your sanity, your priorities in selecting music and your ability to make a gourmet-quality Lobster Bisque.

This CD is certainly punishing, but in my opinion it is a bit less relentless than previous efforts from Disgorge. Fear not, oh-brutal ones; what Disgorge have sacrificed in terms of a non-stop onslaught they have more than made up for with memorable, interesting songs that retain their trademark intensity. Consider "Forgotten Scriptures", an interesting and short piece that seems somewhat uncharacteristic of this blast-chug ensemble. This song then segues into "Descending Upon Con…" (oh wait, I forgot that one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to avoid acknowledging unnecessarily lengthy song-titles that make little or no sense) song #6, which makes use of the main theme of song #5 and then seamlessly incorporates more familiar blast segments. Such songs demonstrate the excellent incorporation of new elements into Disgorge’s music. Song #7 features a nice progression around the 1:35 mark that retains the rich, creamy, calcium-fortified goodness that Disgorge fans have come to know and love. Such riffs are peppered throughout this CD and provide fans of the band’s previous discs with plenty to smile and giggle like giddy schoolgirls about.

One complaint, that I am sure is shared by many who do not care for the hard rock anthems of this Californian outfit, would be that occasionally (or often, depending on your opinion of this type of metal) the songs do seem to drag a bit. There really is only so much you can do with the same type of blast-chug-blast formula and it seems nearly impossible to keep it varied enough to be interesting past 3 minutes or so. Or maybe I just have the attention span of a chipmunk in the final stages of Syphilis. At over five minutes in length, songs such as #8 and #9 seem a bit too long. Then again, I prefer to listen to releases such as this in their entirety, so this isn’t much of a problem since I pretty much let all the songs blend together anyhow. Also, riffs such as the melodic passage in song #8 at around 3:05 serve to break up what many might view as monotony.

From what I recall concerning previous releases, the guitar-work on this disc is less "random, squealing harmonics-prone," which is a good thing. Much like watching a chimp smoke crack out of a baby skull, constant squeals are cute at first but eventually lose their novelty. The overall songwriting on this CD seems more varied than past efforts, but without the loss of Disgorge’s signature sound. For this, Disgorge deserves a round of hearty applause, since not many bands are able to accomplish such a feat.

I’d say at this point that this is my favorite Disgorge CD. Unlike many of their brothers in gurgle-blast, they manage to craft something which sounds dark and menacing as opposed to the standard approach of "hey, let’s make songs which are merely excuses to toss in pit riffs for the benefit of stage front metal Kung-Fu connoisseurs&quot’ that so many "brutal death metal" bands seem to resort to.

Review byPantala Naga Pampa