Disillusion - Gloria

[Liu]

Disillusion - Gloria
Metal Blade

Disillusion's sophomore album has been without a doubt my most anticipated release in the last couple of years. A thick cloud of silence surrounded the band in regards to its recording, taking a full 14 months to complete. Obviously if you're going to attempt at topping perfection, its best to take your time.

In case you're unfamiliar with my other writings or never read my review for the Disillusion debut Back To Times Of Splendor, allow me to quickly summarize: Not only is Back To Times Of Splendor among my top 10 favorite albums of all time, it may very well be in the #1 spot. It is, to this reviewer, musical perfection that is virtually unequaled. Now, sit back for a second and think what your favorite album is and imagine the band responsible for it trying to follow it up. Disillusion must had realized that no matter what they'll do down the line, people will always look at Back To Times Of Splendor as their utmost peak and everything that follows wouldn't compare to it. So, rather than give it another go along the same lines and failing, it would be better to try something else entirely if that is what their ambitions desire. And with this in mind, they have given us Gloria.

On the first few plays, Gloria is a jarring listen. On the surface, it bares almost no similiarities with Back To Times Of Splendor. The melodic death metal element has been exorcised altogether, leaving behind the progressive nuances to pick up the pieces. This is however, an inaccuracy that will only come to light with dedicated listenings. Both albums consist of complex compositions within their respective frameworks, they just differ in how these complexities are developed. Because of this peculiarity, Gloria may be the genre's most misunderstood album since Iron Maiden's The X Factor. There are still plentiful of twisting riffs present and the guitarwork is still as busy as ever, but its nowhere near as aggressive as Back To Times Of Splendor was.

There is a multitude of different ideas sharing the same space. Along with the heavy guitarwork there's a number of electronic beats as a backdrop accompanied by odd time signatures. The way it is all woven together gives off a very mechanical feel, a stark contrast to the breadth of life given off in the debut. Adding to the mechanical feel of the album is Vurtox's robotic voice, which replaces the near-death shout of the last album. There are still moments for sheer vocal brilliance, but they are rather few and far between. Indeed, Disillusion are an entirely different beast now, but a beast nonetheless.

(Despite the sharp directional shift between the albums, one cannot simply state that the band's experimentation came out of thin air. Listen back to the first verse of Fall and the first minute of Alone I Stand In Fires from the debut to see that the band was willing to weave challenging ideas even within their magnum opus.)

In the end, Gloria cannot easily be considered a disappointment to this reviewer. Taken on its own merits, it is a remarkable electronic rock/metal album. It will no doubt be unfairly criticized for years down the road, but that's the way this fickle cookie crumbles.


01. The Black Sea
02. Dread It
03. Don't Go Any Further
04. Avalanche
05. Gloria
06. Aerophobic
07. The Hole We Are In
08. Save The Past
09. Lava
10. Too Many Broken Cease Fires
11. Untiefen

Score: 7/10

[zach]

This is a terrible album. Dread it is the only track worth listening to. Even that is rather weak.