Gloria

Disillusion

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2006)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Metal Blade
• ASIN: B000IOM7RM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,480 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Huge music with a huge character, it's an effective mix of pulsating, marching rhythms and dramatic quiet parts. DISILLUSION have dismissed their past dream world and taken a huge step forward. Welcome to today. Warm and vital, bursting with energy, beautiful, powerful and always unpredictable, the band turns their visions into music. The listener is engulfed in an emotional maelstrom of rage, fear and passion, by vocals that are highly energetic yet disturbingly casual. There is something hiding behind all this cynical nonchalance - bleeding hearts and uncertain dangers.

This overwhelming dichotomy of tempest and melody, groove and dynamics, beat and bombast, pathos and coolness is turned into great songs as if there wasn't an easier thing in the world to do. One godly chorus here, one brutal riff there, and off we go with the next hook. What a joy! What a fire!

The band worked on "GLORIA" for 18 long and changeful months - searching, arguing, testing and going mad - in one word: writing. Recording and mixing was quickly done within an insane four weeks. The album was mastered in Portland by Grammy collector Adam Ayan, who has already set the levels for NINE INCH NAILS and A PERFECT CIRCLE, among many others.

It's a fact that this album will surprise people and amaze them at the same time. Through their bold experimentation, DISILLUSION have managed to write true anthems, which are undeniably deep as well as truly modern.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DO GO FURTHER AND GET THIS NOW !, November 15, 2006

By	THE TROOPER (Chalmette, La USA) - See all my reviews

This is hard to even put into words how much I love Disillusion's music. This group to me are so unique and have so much talent and have such an awesome sound how could any metalhead old or new not like this. This group is unreal! No-one in metal sounds like them. They are true artists. Although their first album (BACK TO TIMES OF SPLENDOR) IS A MASTER PIECE and one of the greatest metal albums I have ever heard. This album is a lot different but not in a bad way. This album is also great but in a different kind of way from the last. Although I believe many metalheads don't like groups to change they would like them to put out the same kind of album over and over. I go against the grain on that and believe change is most of the time an art statement for the group and shows they have talent to do something fresh and new. I believe this is without a doubt exactly the case for this group and their new album. This album though different from their first one is still an amazing piece of metal music. So if you truly love metal music and appreciate the art of metal you should already have this album and their first one as well and if you don't then (DON'T GO ANY FURTHER).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nevermind the naysayers!, July 15, 2007

By	Master of Sound (Bethlehem, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This album rocks, it's as short and simple as that. I never heard Back to Times of Splendor, so I can't compare this album to that (I heard a clip at myspace, and I recall good ol' generic death vocals). If you are looking for something truly and completely orgininal in the metal genre, and like all types of metal, you've found a hit. I own about 400 metal albums now, and am always looking to expand my collection, and I can say this one stands on its own, in a good way.

Getting onto the details of the album, let me just first say that the lyrics to this album really don't make that much sense, but that's the beauty of art, it doesn't have to make sense (hence Picasso and other abstract art). In my opinion, if you're that concerned about the lyrics being superior, go read a book. People complain on here that the vocals are too processed and distorted and have too many effects (that description would fit Manson moreso). I don't really agree with that, and even if that was true, who the hell cares!? They sound cool, and they fit the music. The vocals are mostly clean, with a little processing.

The music itself is awesome, completely creative and unique. I can best describe it as industrial, experimental, avant-garde, heavy metal. The first track sets the tone of the album well. It begins with a cool mix of electronics, a pulsating violin (or cello), and a subtle choir in the background, then the drum kicks in, then...... BLAST, a freakin' huge wall of ultra distorted guitar and drums knocks you on your ass. From there, the ever-so unique vocals kick in with a great groove that you just want to move to.

I find track 3 (don't go any further) to be rather funny; the fact that it pisses the close-minded listeners of this album off. It starts with the cheesiest lyrics ever, and you would think the song would completely suck, but then the guitar and drums kick in with a huge groove. It jumps back and forth between the groovy part and a more relaxed part. Certainly a song you can bang your head to. If you can get through this song and like the album up to that point, then you'll love the whole album.

Track 4 (avalanche) just pulls you in. It is very unique sounding; consistent and one of the lighter ones. You get lost in this track; you'll have to stop what you're doing and the track will just take you on an auditory journey, trust me.

Aerophobic is interesting, although it's not metal. It kind of sounds like a disco-tek, with a good beat and the broken blades of a helicopter. It's cool how Disillusion use a track like this as a bridge between songs that sounds awesome, instead of filler.

The Hole We Are In is a pretty heavy track, and there is even a trace (a real, real small trace) of black metal (in the growled vocals that fade out).

Tracks 8 and 10 follow in the same vein as those that preceded; lava is the weakest track, and the last track is just a laid back, more peaceful conclusion to a completely awe-inspiring album.

I don't see how one of the reviwers on here find this to be uninspiring. Just b/c an album doesn't have guitar solos doesn't make it uninspiring, folks. And comparing it to Rammstein (the godfathers of industrial metal) is a huge plus in my opinion, not a drawback. This album can be compared to them maybe in an industrial sense, but it stands on its own as completely unique from anything out there. It's experimental, but in a good, concise way. The songs aren't 10 minutes and make you lose your interest and composure by 5 minutes. Disillusion don't rely on a pool of melody to draw the listener in; instead they do it with their great rythym and pure creativity. In my opinion it takes a lot of skill to be able to pull off experimentation, groove, heaviness, and serenity in the same song, and Disillusion do just that. If you're a metalhead with an open mind (or even if you're not) looking for something truly unique and awesome, look no further. If the above qualities fit you, this album may be destined to become one of your new favorites, as it has become mine. Also, it only takes a few listens to get into it, not 500 billion (like those super-long progressive, experimental discs; which are sometimes good, but more often than not just lose my attention).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great album, but not for everyone..., November 16, 2006

A Kid's Review

Alright, before getting to the actual review I want to say this upfront. To those people who loved Back to Times of Splendor and are looking for another progressive masterpiece, you're looking in the wrong direction. Disillusion stated they didn't want to make a BtToS2, and thus Gloria takes a completely different approach music wise.

You're probably wondering what Gloria is then. Well essentially it's some kind of mix of industrial, electric sounds, funk and metal. The length of the songs has been reduced to your average 3-4 minutes, and the vocals received a big overhaul too. The rough death metal grunts accompanied by clean vocals are no longer there. Instead the tracks carry a heavily distorted voice that talks more then it sings.

So where does that leave us with the actual music? It's hard to define really, each and every track has a somewhat different ring to it. What they all do share is an original experimental point of view. Some songs are build of typically catchy riffs, others use electric buzzing sounds as a foundation and the rest... are just plain weird.

That's not to say that this album is bad. Despite it's unusual nature, it has a lot to love if you can find to appriciate it. Most of the songs are actually very catchy and pleasant to hear. The different components (elecric and industrial with metal guitar) are very well matched together, which leaves a unique listening experience. Having said that I find this a hard album to rate. The album itself is really good, I'm just not sure how many people can truly appreciate it for wat it is...

...Which is also my biggest fear. I've already seen it being obliterated in several reviews not because of what it is, but because of what is _not_: The second installment of Back to Times of Splendor. That is not what it is, and neither what it wants to be.

But please let this review not scare you away in buying "Gloria" if you loved their previous album. Preview some of their tracks, see for yourself if you like their style. Just listen to it with an open mind, and don't judge it too quickly.