Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Disbelief
Label: Dynamic Arts Records
Release: 2009
Runtime: 48:09
Rating: 3.5/5
The German outfit Disbelief, who put out their last album Navigator back in 2007, have been spreading their death metal, tinted with sludge, groove and atmospheric passages, from stages everywhere since 1990. This year the Germans are back with their eighth studio album in a row, Protected Hell.
From the ominous intro Hell onward, Disbelief prove on Protected Hell that after more than fifteen years the ideas still haven’t dried up. A dark, depressive atmosphere hangs over the album from the very first second, and together with mid-tempo death metal and the tortured vocals of Karsten Jäger (who now and then recalls the psychopathic vocals of Tompa Lindberg from At the Gates) it adds up to a seriously effective whole. Protected Hell is marked by unmistakable mid-paced death metal with that unique Disbelief stamp, packed with groove, sludge parts, mighty guitar riffs that occasionally conjure up doom metal influences (reminiscent of some older Paradise Lost stuff), and thick, crushing drums. The very first track, A Place to Hide, plunges us into a world of melancholic agony, ushered in by fantastic riffs that recall the morbid darkness of Nevermore. The riffs are especially strong on this album, so effective that you don’t even notice the lack of solos, which Disbelief would probably have spoiled rather than improved. Even though the roots of real death metal rotted away long ago, what’s left of death metal hides mostly in the raw but intelligible growls, while the music itself has fully morphed into groove. Thankfully, that groove is miles away from your average metalcore, because it’s dynamic and infectious, and its guiding principle is to make the songs even stronger and more recognizable. Even though the songs are structurally pretty similar to one another and mostly settle into a mid-tempo pace, you never get sick of them, since Disbelief’s melancholy is one of a kind and the sludge/atmospheric parts are varied enough that they don’t repeat themselves. Still, I wouldn’t mind another faster burst in the vein of the excellent Hell Goes On, where Karsten, with a phenomenal vocal performance backed by fast drums and riffing, truly throws open the gates of hell. Disbelief’s guiding principle remains making hallucinogenic, claustrophobic, dark and morbid metal. The Germans are doing a damn good job of it, and it’s right that they keep going in this direction!
Protected Hell doesn’t differ all that much from its predecessors Navigator and 66Sick, but Disbelief keep following their charted path and, with every new release, prove that they’re getting better and better at writing songs.
Lineup
Karsten “Jagger” Jäger – vocals
Witali Weber – guitar
Jochen “Joe” Trunk – bass
Kai Bergerin – drums
Tracklist
1. Hell (Intro) 02:11
2. A Place To Hide 04:56
3. Hate/Aggression Schedule 04:07
4. Nemesis Rising 04:05
5. The Return Of Sin 05:01
6. Hell Goes On 03:33
7. S.O.S. – Sense Of Sight 03:51
8. One Nation‘s Son 04:38
9. Trauma (Instrumental) 01:01
10. The Dark Soundscapes 05:16
11. Room 309 (Kraftprinzip) 04:26
12. Demon‘s Entry 05:04
