DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

By the time the band got around to its 1990 debut EXPOSITIONSPROPHYLAXE, Bezdek had been replaced by bassist Herwig Zamerik and the band had haunted their homeland with some of the most caustic expressions of grindcore meets death metal rawness that the world had seen up to that point. Also cited as an early example of technical death metal, EXPOSITIONSPROPHYLAXE featured 16 wildly unhinged tracks that was part Morbid Angel and part Napalm Death with guttural growls, guitar squeals and blastbeat frenzies pointing towards the former while pungent short blasts of skanky punk infused riffing kept the core elements in the forefront.

Adventurous theatrical embellishments such as the opening orchestral freakery "Introphylaxe" and the acoustic / synth touches that opened "Accelerated Evolution" showcase a trenchant avant-garde tendency, one that would permeate the band's following releases. Strange bleed-ins of unrelated musical processions and other surprises pop up even on this more streamlined debut that is somewhat of an anomaly in the band's original run from 1987-95. With weirdness at bay at least in the extremities found with the jazzier more Atheist inspired albums that followed, EXPOSITIONSPROPHYLAXE delivers a caustic no nonsense noise-fest that showcases a rhythmic raucousness that also offers a rather amusing propensity for surrealism and silliness as evidenced on track titles such as "Disappeared With Hermaphrodite Choirs" and "The Unequalled Visual Response Mechanism."

As one of the pioneering forces of mutant metal DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA found few receptive ears who were only getting used to the world of extreme metal while these pioneering trailblazers were already taking things to the next level and beyond. While the band would find a more receptive audience with its following albums once the metal universe had inculcated a veritable pool of avant-garde excesses, this debut tends to get overlooked in favor of those more outlandish examples of experimental freakery. While not the band's peak effort, EXPOSITIONSPROPHYLAXE delivers satisfying energetic death metal meets grindcore performances that offer a consistent flow of deathened distortion with a touch of atonality with technically infused chops along with the random decor of experimentalism.

Overall i find this to be in an interesting debut although perhaps not to the death metal standards that 1990 had to offer but then again this isn't a purist's death metal album at all but rather an experimental hybridization of two of metal's most extreme art forms of the era. What makes this release unique are the uses of subtle syncopation and other time signature deviations from the more established death metal acts of the time. Just enough small weird quirks to suggest this band was all about tackling the strange and wildly unknown that it would fully embrace on its next two albums before disbanding. Although this could be rightfully tagged as deathcore, that style evolved in a completely different direction than what DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA presented on its debut EXPOSITIONSPROPHYLAXE. From what i've experienced, this one remains fairly unique and for that it holds a special charm.

3.5 rounded down

The sound is muddy and the vocals from the bottom of a coal mine. The same for the downtuned guitars, bass and drums. This is very dirty music. But the avant-garde, rap and funky bass adds something extra and very good to this album. It really stands out from the rest of the crowd, this album.

This album is really good and it succeed in what it is trying. I would recommend it to everyone who like their metal bent out of shape. The music here most definate is that.

3 stars

Disharmonic Orchestra was basically a simple death metal/ grindcore act with few experimental moments on their early releases, but with "Not to be Undimensional Conscious" they earned their avant garde/ experimental tag. The foundation in the music is still death metal with growling vocals but with lots of experiments along the way. The first thing I noticed was that the bass is very prominant in the mix. It has a life of its own and doesn´t follow the guitar much. The drums are fusion-influenced and sometimes remind me of the drums on the "Unquestionable Presence (1991)" album by Atheist. So a very interesting change to the rythm section compared to earlier releases by the band. There are also several experiments with polyrythms and odd time signatures that should please fans of the genre. I generally enjoy the sometimes odd experiments on the album but I have to admit that the rap part in "The Return of the Living Beat" somewhat turns me off.

The album was recorded and mixed at the famous Sunlight Studio in Stockholm, Sweden by just as famous producer Tomas Skogsberg (check almost any Swedish death metal release from the early nineties and Tomas Skogsberg was involved as producer). It was produced by Disharmonic Orchestra and Tomas Skogsberg and the result is very enjoyable IMO. The power trio sound works very well here.

So "Not to be Undimensional Conscious" is a massive improvement over earlier releases by Disharmonic Orchestra and while the album isn´t perfect (at least not to my ears) it should certainly be considered a classic experimental/ avant garde death metal album. Essential or not my rating is 3.5 stars. I might upgrade my rating to 4 stars some time in the future though. I sense this album is a grower.

I listened to "Expositionsprophylaxe" back in the early nineties. A friend of mine had the album on LP and he got me a cassette copy which I listened to on occasion. It never did much for me though and listening to "Expositionsprophylaxe" again after all these years doesn´t help much on my initial impression. A 2 star rating is warranted.

If you know the "Disharmonic Orchestra / Pungent Stench" split EP from earlier that same year, there are really no surprises listening to the music on "Successive substitution". Simple grindcore/death metal with growling vocals, blasting drums, heavy mid-paced death metal parts and some rather imature musicianship are pretty much the order of the day on "Successive substitution". The sound quality isn´t very good, but it´s fortunately not too lo-fi for me to enjoy.

"Successive substitution" is a hardcore fan release IMO and I can´t really recommend it to anyone else. If you´re interested in listening to the very early days of the band I would recommend listening to the split EP with Pungent Stench instead. "Successive substitution" gets a 1.5 - 2 star rating from me.

The music style that the two bands play on this EP is a far cry from the experimental/ avant garde metal of later releases by Disharmonic Orchestra and the Mentors influenced splatter/ gore death´n´Roll of later releases by Pungent Stench (songtitles like "Klyster Boogie" and "Splatterday Night Fever" from the later part of Pungent Stench discography says it all now don´t they?). Both bands play simple grindcore/death metal on this split release and while that style isn´t necessarily the most interesting thing in my world (unless it´s something really special) the music does have a certain primitive charm to it that I enjoy. Growling vocals, blasting drums and fast played hardcore influenced guitar and bass riffs is the order of the day. There isn´t much difference between the sound of the two acts but if I have to chose I´ll say that I find Pungent Stench output to be the most interesting part of the split. The sound quality is better on the Pungent Stench material too.

All in all this is a rather rare release if you find it in one of the limited coloured vinyl versions (500 in green vinyl, 250 in yellow vinyl and 250 in Orange vinyl). The quality of the release isn´t that high though and IMO this is mostly a fan item. It´s not really poor but not that exciting either. A 2 star rating is warranted.