### Disma: Towards the megalith

#### 22/09/11 || gk

Disma was formed in 2005 by Daryl Kahan of Funebrarum and Bill Venner who used to play guitars for Incantation in their live set up. That should really tell you all you need to know about this band but just for kicks, they then went and recruited Craig Pillard to sing for them. The resulting album, “Towards the Megalith” has been garnering a fair bit of hype since its release in July this year and for once, the hype and praise is completely justified.

The album opens with “Chaos Apparition” which starts off like generic Incantation worship and sounds like it could have been on “Mortal Throne of Nazarene” till about the halfway mark when the tempo drops and the song starts to take on a character all its own. It is however, with the second song, “Chasm of Oceanus” that the band really starts to hit its stride. The song mixes classic death doom riffing with Pillard’s powerful low end growls to stunning effect and the song rages through tempo changes as blast beats and hyper speed riffing sit comfortably next to riffs that crawl and an atmosphere that is thick and heavy. Other album highlights include “Spectral Domination” with an awesome slow chugging section, “Vault of Membros” with its Autopsy like approach to doom death and “Lost in the Burial Fog” which sits somewhere between classic Incantation and Bolt Thrower. Title song and album closer “Towards the Megalith” closes the album in grand style with thick atmosphere and a superb riff at around the 2 minute mark that just stamps the band’s class all over the album.

Where Disma succeed is in song dynamics. They never stick to any one pattern for too long. Every section of hyper speed blasting is backed up by a gigantic mid tempo or slow riff that heightens the atmosphere and enhances what came previously. Also, Pillard sounds terrific right through these eight songs and his voice is often used in a way as to heighten the atmosphere and heaviness of these songs.

Incantation worship seems to be the major trend in the new wave of old school death metal and the band is an obvious influence but Disma manage to transcend their influences and sound fresh while retaining the charm of the old school. If you’ve been banging away to the likes of Vasaeleth and Decrepitaph over the last year or so and have a fetish for all things dead and old school then “Towards the Megalith” might just be an essential buy. Don’t look for a reinvention of the wheel, just look forward to getting your head pummeled.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Profound Lore Records
- Website: Disma MySpace
- Band
- Craig Pillard: vocals
- Daryl Kahan: guitars
- Bill Venner: guitars
- Randi Stokes: bass
- Shawn Eldridge: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Chaos Apparition
- 02. Chasm of Oceanus
- 03. Spectral Domination
- 04. Vault of Membros
- 05. Purulent Quest
- 06. Lost in the Burial Fog
- 07. Of a Past Forlorn
- 08. Towards the Magalith