Disarmonia Mundi - The Isolation Game review
| Band: | Disarmonia Mundi |
| Album: | The Isolation Game |
| Style: | Gothenburg metal |
| Release date: | December 09, 2009 |
| A review by: | Jeff |
01. Cypher Drone
02. Structural Wound
03. Perdition Haze
04. Building An Empire Of Dust
05. Stepchild Of Laceration
06. The Isolation Game
07. Blacklight Rush
08. Glimmer
09. Ties That Bind
10. Losing Ground
11. Same Old Nails For A New Messiah
12. Digging The Grave Of Silence
13. Beneath A Colder Sun
14. The Shape Of Things To Come [Japanese bonus]
Can you guess what is the main source of inspiration of the Italian combo Disarmonia Mundi? Ho well it's not so hard to answer and you just have to listen to 30 sec of the first song of their new album The Isolation Game, to understand everything: this is In Flames!!! And me who believed that this trend was over, well apparently not!
Take Reroute To Remain, do a copycat and voila, you have The Isolation Game! Seriously I don't understand why and how this band can be so inspired by the Swedish combo and I don't understand how they can believe that they will find a real audience. Actually everything is a bit sad here because the duet of Disarmonia Mundi doesn't seem to be bad, at the opposite their interpretation of the 13 songs of the album is really solid and we cannot say that their songs are the worst ever released but damn, this is so similar to who you know that I cannot find any real interest in this album. This is classic Gothenburg death with electronic sound, hyper melodic choruses, grunts and big riffs, nothing else, this is just classic to death and uninspired in the end?.
Even if the album is well produced and if the guys are not bad musicians, their lack of inspiration and originality of their music could kill them soon. Why? Well because the trend is over and if in the past it was easy to find people who were blind enough to buy everything in the genre, it's a lot harder now and except In Flames and Soilwork I doubt that the fans are still looking after everything which sound similar to the leaders of the genre. It's sad really because I have the feeling that Disarmonia Mundi could do really good songs but if they still just want to do copy it will not work for a long time sorry?
If you're still into Gothenburg Metal and don't want anything new, if you still believe that the last In Flames are so good that you can also buy everything similar to them to be happy, for sure the last Disarmonia Mundi is for you. On the other hand if you're looking for "something else", go away as soon as possible because The Isolation Game, being to similar to tons of other releases, is just a deception?
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 3 |
| Production: | 7 |
Written by Jeff | 21.03.2010
Comments
Comments: 18
Visited by: 262 users
| Valaskjalf Account deleted |
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| Fat & Sassy! Elite Posts: 3857  |
Yeah, I won't even bother looking into this, but I DO like the album artwork.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Bad and bland. I don't care much for originality in music anymore as it's all been done before, but this is just a carbon copy of modern-era In Flames. At least other bands incorporate their own sound into the mix... I gave this a 4 after hearing it through three full times. I don't plan on listening to it again.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| enumaelis Posts: 266  |
I was surprised that in a spanish webzine they gave this album a 9/10, and they are not that indulgent in most of reviews, so I was interested in listening... but... just once was enough.. agree with the review
---- http://enumaelis.blogspot.com/
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| Jon Posts: 182  |
Finally a non-positive metal-storm review - it was good, you guys should do 'em more often. I don't read all the reviews. Perhaps there are more.
---- A mythology is a religion different enough from your own for it's absurdity to be obvious.
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| Metal Maiden Megadead Posts: 352  |
Actually, their main "isnpiration" comes from Soilwork, courtesy of Mr Speed...It wouldn't be so wrong to call them Soilwork 2.0...And just like Soilwork and modern-era In Flames, this album is a DISGRACE for Gothenburg metal, it was the most repulsive piece of crap I had heard in a very long time; even metalcore is better than this...I think I rated it 2, and I was being generous...And this is quite the pity, since before Bjorn came along, the band was actually worth something...
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| MetalManic Posts: 654  |
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| Justicelust Posts: 213  |
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| Chance Posts: 3 |
Yes i really liked their previous albums and i thought they were progressing with each album. This album was disappointing to me and it was obvious something is missing, whether its input from previous band members or lack of emotion, dededication etc. I hope they get back on track again 
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| .Sound Posts: 8 |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by .Sound on 05.05.2010 at 13:21 Does that mean he only knows those two very old albums? He might have the other albums as downloads on his computer, but couldn't be bothered to buy them.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| .Sound Posts: 8 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.05.2010 at 13:33 Judging from the review itself and from me having been a big In Flames fan up untill their latest album, I can tell he did not listen to their albums after Clayman enough to be making such judgements. The entire review is just a shallow rant, actually Disarmonia Mundi are one of the only bands who even TRY to do anything new in the Gothenburg genre. Yes, maybe Speed has become a bit soaked in the swamp that is the Gothenburg style, but that doesn't make this album worth a 6 because the Gothenburg style itself isn't that original anymore (again, read the review, it's what he suggests). It's the same story with Dark Tranquillity's new album; it's SO much like fiction, but that's okay because it's just good music. Anyhow, I guess it's just a matter of opinion. It's my word against his and reviews are always a personal opinion, I'm just disagreeing with him
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| Mikyz Posts: 711  |
Written by .Sound on 05.05.2010 at 13:44 You're free to like or despise the album but that doesn't make the bad points disappear. You need to look at the album in an objective way and acknowledge that it doesn't present anything new, the songwriting gives the already-heard-that-but-better-elsewhere feeling. This release is in fact very enjoyable but I still find it uninspired, and I'm sure that as talented musicians they can come up with something more original. For me they sound like a downgraded version of Soilwork (which I enjoy very much). So the outcome in the end is forgettable, if it's forgettable then it should get below 7 imo.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| ThatOtherGuy Posts: 8 |
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| Daeva Toasted Posts: 4  |
Written by ThatOtherGuy on 16.08.2010 at 03:56 I couldn't say it any better
---- ***...Soy el rayo al final del puente...***
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