Svart Records Asu: CD-levy Vuosi: 2024, 08.11.2024 Kieli: Englanti
Finnish death metallers Disgrace released a bunch of demos and one EP before their first full-length album, “Grey Misery,” which was released in 1992. The Finnish metal scene was flourishing with releases during those days—many of them are recognized as immortal classics among die-hard maniacs around the world: Slumber of Sullen Eyes, Member of Immortal Damnation, The Karelian Isthmus, Children of the Scorn, to name a few. And, of course, Grey Misery!
A bunch of classic albums, each with its own distinct sound and style, emerged during that time. Disgrace stepped up their game from their demo days, recording and mixing Grey Misery at Timo Tolkki’s TTT studio in May 1991. It was originally released on vinyl, CD, and tape by the Modern Primitive label in 1992. The band remembers that everything went smoothly during the recording process. It is evident that Disgrace practiced a lot and sharpened their songwriting skills without compromising the brutality in their delivery. Grey Misery takes the listener through nine tracks of organic, gloomy, groovy, and heavy-as-hell grinding death metal. Jukka Taskinen and Toni Stranius’ guttural double vocals still remind us of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker from Carcass. Some of the riffs also bear a resemblance, no doubt about that, but Disgrace managed to present their own blend of Finnish brutality with groove and almost prog-rock-like technical parts in some tracks. After Grey Misery, Disgrace decided that their days of death metal were over and transitioned to a brighter style with garage punk and rock’n’roll. That is a whole different story altogether.