Dismember - Death Metal (1997)

After deciding that "death -n- roll" wasn't their thing, Dismember decided to go down to the local gay bar for inspiration. This is where they ran into the guys from 'In Flames' (title says all) and were delighted by the idea of "injecting" an unhealthy dose of melodious rhythmic fluctuations into their arsenal. 

There's a couple things about this... first off, the Judas Priesty/Iron Maiden-ish embellishments found slathered over a good portion of the songs on this album would pretty much become a solid staple in the band's sound until their demise in 2011. The other thing is, despite the uncomfortable amount of awkward sounding passages due to the band's newfound love affair with the more "happier" sounding aspects of 'melodic death metal', the truth of the matter is that this album is, for the most part, a welcome return to form after the identity crisis that was 'Massive Killing Capacity'.

The truth is, this is actually a pretty damn good album that I'd easily rank among Dismember's best. Of course, I'd be hardpressed to name a Dismember album that was a complete winner, aside from 1992's skull smashing 'Pieces', which was merely an 'ep', so... Again, there are some really killer tracks on here, but just as things beginning to really cook, the band throws in some god-awful "melodious' lick that wrecks everything, forcing you back to square one. It's rather irritating, really. Kinda like fucking some chick who persists on attempting to shove a dildo up your ass everytime you approach a climax.

Oddly enough, with a name like 'Death Metal', I expected to hear less 'power metal' and more 'death-fucking-metal' in the riffage.

Classic Covers: Dismember - Pieces (1992)

Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream (1991)

Although many folks persist on placing them alongside the likes of Entombed as far as the influence of Swedish death metal is concerned, I've always felt that Dismember were second tier. Had Carnage remained an active entity, I would have no qualm whatsoever replacing them with Dismember as far as their iconic status is concerned. Unfortunately, Carnage long ago disbanded,  unleashing Dismember in their stead and although I have nothing against Dismember, I always felt that they were lacking that extra bit of mojo that made Entombed such a monolith to remember. It's as if Dismember happened to be at the right place at the right time whilst others of their ilk just couldn't seem to get their shit together, such as Crematory or Crypt of Kerberos, both of whom I feel are infinitely better.

As an impressionable teen in high school, I nonetheless marveled at the band's legendary publicity shots covered in blood and adorned in inverted crosses the size of church steeples, not to mention the killer album cover courtesy of then go-to guy, Dan Seagrave. Having seen these images before actually listening to the band's music, it's needless to say that I had high hopes for what they were capable of, sonically speaking. I must also mention that 'Like an Everflowing Stream' is one of the greatest album titles in the history of death metal, far outshining any reference to gore or satanism that had already been done to death by that time.

The beginning riff of 'Override the Overture' is, to this day, one of the classic rhythmic sequences that I will cherish to the grave. Unfortunately though, I began to notice the quality spiral ever so slightly downward as the album played on. It wasn't that the album was necessarily bad, nor was it lacking any of the elements that comprise your typical experience through death metal land, but... aha... that's it... "typical". This was nothing more than a typical death metal album, er, "Swedish" style, that is! There were no doomy drop offs into some hideously creepy subconscious netherworld, nor were there any obscene bouts of blast beat retardation. This was merely shaping up to be an average, run of the mill death metal album. I can pretty much say that that has been the case throughout the band's career and apparently they themselves have wised up to the fact as they eventually turned in their pink slips.

Ironically enough, the one song that I felt was the "standout" track is actually a Carnage cover (Death Evocation), of course I'm a sucker for processed vocal spewage and the bonus track 'Defective Decay' is also a winner, but alas, at the end of the day I usually end up skipping over this and going for my copy of 'Dark Recollections' when I wish to reminisce the days of old.

Classic Covers: Dismember - Like an Ever Flowing Stream (1991)

Dismember - Massive Killing Capacity

Don't let the absolutely superior cover art fool you as it did I, so many years ago. This is probably the most awkward sounding release by the band. It sounds like they thought that not only ripping off Entombed's guitar sound was a great idea but that they'd give the whole 'Death -n- Roll' thing a go as well. The funny thing is that is doesn't sound as if the whole band was committed to this approach.

Whether you accepted the whole "rock & roll" thing that Entombed started to do shortly after the release of their penultimate LP, 'Clandestine', one thing is certain... they have always had a knack for writing good riffs. Death metal or not. Dismember's track record, however, is clustered with just as many misses as hits and this is perhaps the most bizarre album of their career. It's like some guy who sucks dick for $20 bags of crack but insists on telling himself that he's straight. The fact that in the CD booklet, one of the guitar players is wearing a bandana, Vatos Locos style, says a lot.

It seems like Dismember were on the verge of jumping out of the closet, full bore, but then had a change of heart and decided to remain hidden within. Aside from some of the goofier, more "rock" sounding riffs on this album, the ones that are firmly rooted in the death metal camp are just plain boring. There's absolutely nothing memorable or spectacular going on here. Just a band in the midst of an identity crisis, debating if they should tell the world that they are gay.