Customer Reviews

Discordia

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Relapse records (which has signed bands like Nile, Dying Fetus, Suffocation, Soilent Green, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed) is definitely an appropriate home for the critically acclaimed Misery Index. MI (who play grindcore influenced death metal) is equally as heavy as those bands, and equally as (or maybe even more) talented. Their sophomore full length, "Discordia," is a finely crafted, punishing, no frills metal assault with an articulate, bare bones production. The rhythms are mercilessly uncompromising, as new vocalist Jason Netherton barks over a massive barrage of extra sharp, cold, bludgeoning riffs and Adam Jarvis' complex, walloping drum patterns.

In an era where heavy music is dominated by metalcore, it's quite refreshing to hear a band like Misery Index. This record doesn't have one hint of melody, meaning it's devoid of clean vocals, audible breakdowns, acoustic interludes, or annoying, radio-ready choruses (in fact, are there any choruses at all?).

A brutal, surging, occasionally chugging guitar lead and thrashy, rapid fire drums begin the album's first song, "Unmarked Graves." Track three, "Outsourcing Jehovah," which has a punching, machine gun rhythm, is almost as heavy, and so are the cast iron, cascading riffs on "Breathing Pestilence." But "Sensory Deprivation," which might be the record's best song, is backed by a thunderous, crushing rhythm, searing guitars, pummeling drums, and even a mini guitar solo. Lastly, "Pandemican" is a short but sweet album closer which puts more scorching riffs atop a hailstorm of double bass drums.

Though most of "Discordia" is an uber-fast, 33-minute train wreck of blazing, dissonant metal, raw passion, and furious energy, a few songs (like the mostly instrumental title track) are more mid-tempo. But whether attempting to destroy your ear drums or allowing you a little room to breathe, it's probably impossible to find one weak moment on this entire disc.

Cutting to the chase, "Discordia" has about everything you could want in great death metal. It's definitely one of 2006's best in albums of this genre, and it's also one of the finest grindcore/grindcore-influenced metal albums of this millennium. Thus, this is a must listen for all extreme music fans, and come year's end, it should be on many metalheads' "best of" lists.

For me, this is the surprise of '06, incredible in all aspects, this guys play very good, heavely influenced by Napalm Death and the likes. Theres no breakdowns on this album, all the songs comes with unique death metal signature but with a chaotic drum tempo changes, also the guitars are on top here. Recommended if you like Nasum, Napalm Death, Cephalic Carnage and Suffocation.

Misery Index return on a new label and a crushing follow-up to Retaliate. Not sure what else to say except that this band writes well thought out death metal. The cd may only be 33 minutes, but I will take quality over quantity any day of the week. The production is a little thinner than Retaliate, but that is a minor issue, when you consider that this is some of the best played death metal around. Pick it up!!!!

This is a great album. With influences from legendary bands like Napalm Death, Dying Fetus, and so forth, you'll enjoy this. There aren't any breakdowns or clean singing here (I'm not against it, it just needs a rest sometimes), nope, just head on technical brutal death metal the way it's best done! And with this band being signed onto a label like Relapse, you won't want to pass this up! The blastbeats are grand, and even though the band prefers to play fast in the speed of thrash and grindcore, you can hear a background solo in "Sensory Deprivation". Basically, this is not a band to be ignored if you love extreme death metal like Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Aborted, and so forth. Give "Discordia" a shot!

I love these guys. This album truly is a jewel. The year of 2006 has so far seemed to be a great year for Death Metal releases.

Misery Index have an uncanny ability to keep the momemtum flowing in their songs in places where some Death Metal bands start losing it (most notably the originality area) and thats always a big plus in any Deathheads book! If you miss the days of blast beat heavy Death Metal and are tired of new and unoriginal Death Metal acts then this is for you.

If you like this album, then make sure you go pick up SKINLESS'S - TRAMPLE THE WEAK, HURDLE THE DEAD! Its even better than this!

I first got into Misery Index over the summer when I heard "Conquistadores" from their new album "Discordia" on my Music Choice Metal channel, and I really liked it. Then I soon realized that I had to get this album. I went out and I bought "Discordia", and it was a whole lot better than I expected it to be. I was absolutely amazed how incredible this album was. This album is a blasting train wreck of brutal vocals, neck snapping guitar riffs, clobbering blast beats, wallopping double basses, what more do you need. Jason Netherton's growling vocals are harsh and very brutal, and his bass is audible as well. Sparky Voyles and Mark Kloeppel's guitar riffs will snap your neck in half and rip your bare flesh off. Adam Jarvis's double bass drumming is top-notch throughout, I swear, this guy really does an incredible job behind the kit. Every song on this album is just awesome, but my favorites are "Conquistadores", "Unmarked Graves", "Sensory Deprivation" (this song has some pretty cool guitar solos), "Outsourcing Jehovah", "Breathing Pestilence", and "Meet Reality" (which has a cool double bass drum solo in the beginning). Sure this album is only 33 minutes long, but it's brutal, blasting, and in your face throughout. If you're a fan of Dying Fetus, The Red Chord, The Black Dahlia Murder, Lamb Of God, Nile, Napalm Death, or just extreme heavy music in general, you'll definately love Misery Index, I'm not kidding for one second. Go out and buy this album now. I also recommend their first album "Retaliate" as well. LONG LIVE MISERY INDEX!!
Jeremy's song ratings:
1. Unmarked Graves - 5/5
2. Conquistadores - 5/5
3. Outsourcing Jehovah - 5/5
4. Breathing Pestilence - 5/5
5. Meet Reality - 5/5
6. Sensory Deprivation - 5/5
7. The Medusa Stare - 5/5
8. Dystopian Nightmares - 5/5
9. Discordia - 5/5
10. Pandemican - 5/5

My review of "Discordia" must begin with some background info on Misery Index, involving, of course, a short expose on the once-great American death metal outfit Dying Fetus and their seminal release "Destroy the Opposition." "Destroy the Opposition" was Dying Fetus at their best; the musicianship was bewilderingly tight and proficient, the song writing was catchy, smart, and composed in a manner that few death metal bands can lay claim to. Unfortunately, Dying Fetus would not release another album like "Destroy the Opposition." Lead vocalist/bassist Jason Netherton and guitarist Sparky Voyles, the driving force behind Dying Fetus at their apogee, left the band and formed Misery Index. They enlisted the help of Kevin Talley, the talented young drummer behind "Destory the Opposition," and named the group after Assuck's mid-nineties grindcore classic. Dying Fetus then released "Stop at Nothing," a huge disappointment musically and lyrically (the band went from being leftist-radical to conservative-right--how boring and un-punk is that?) In other words, Misery Index sucked the awesomeness out of Dying Fetus and on "Discordia" the grindcore/crustpunk/deathmetal outfit proves that they have what it takes to destroy the competition.

It is an understatement to say that "Discordia" is a fast album. Some people, as it should be clear from other reviews, are not sure what to make of this album. Is it grindcore? Death metal? Or some strange melding of the genres with a bit of crust punk thrown in? I think the latter is the most accurate description. But what makes Misery Index so unique is the melody they incorporate into their otherwise manic grind sound.

It is very apparent that the band put energy not only into writing the riffs, but also into the construction of songs in their entirety. This has always been Misery Index's strong point, from their earliest work on "Overthrow" to "Retaliate" and their "Dissent" ep. The moments I enjoy most are the thrash breaks that have become a mainstay of Misery Index's sound, generally inserted at just the right time between lots of blast beats and grinding guitars. a little two-stepping always livened up the party. "Discordia" is both indicative of Misery Index's earlier work and yet demonstrative of the band's move in a more creative direction, the likes of which could be heard on "Dissent". "Discordia" is definitely the band's most mature, fully thawed, and coherent work to date.

The only thing that kept me from diving right into this album and loving it completely is the production. The recording is clear and the levels are great, but their seems to be an excess of treble, especially on the drums and cymbals, which are quite dominant in the production. Nevertheless, the production on "Discordia" is the best the band has had, except for maybe on "Dissent," but that was only an ep. The rough-around-the-edges sound serves the band and adds to their crust/grind sound, so if you can move beyond a production that is good but not great and you've enjoyed any of Misery Index's previous work, you'll most likely enjoy this album a lot.

This new album from Misery Index has a traditional death metal sound to it, its grindcore like Napalm Death and thier style is pure speed and riff the guitar sound is absolutely shredding infact it sounds like a buzzsaw coming through the speakers. This whole band deffinetely has some raw talent especially Sparky Voyles who has some great solos, the vocalist and bass player is quite good he uses a gravely voice instead of a deep death metal growl so it isn't an incoherent mess (I'm just saying that sometimes it sounds better that way). The songs are very good starting of with Unmarked graves then Conquistadores and it just gets better after that with the best song on the album Sensory deprivation where the drummer reaches epic speed and precision with the blast beats so its always in tone which I think was fantastic, this whole album has a straight death metal sound and dark tone to it and doesn't have any melodies just the way I like it except for the song Discordia which has a sweet solo and a bit of harmony you should check it out, I cannot make a comparison to their previous album cause I don't have it yet but if its as good as Discordia then I might get it. If you liked Misery Index then I highly recomend these similar bands Napalm Death, Kataklysm, Morbid Angel, Nile, Diecide and Molevolant Creation.