Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor

Back to Times of Splendor was the debut album from the German band Disillusion.  It was released back in 2004, but I only finally picked it up this year after hearing great things about it.  The timing worked out well, because I needed a good "progressive metal" fix after the massive disappointment of the new Orphaned Land disc (2004's Mabool being probably the best progressive metal album ever as far as I'm concerned).

The progressive metal label is kind of a misnomer a lot of the time.  I'm willing to bet that for 90% of metal fans, the first band that comes to mind is Opeth, and the general sentiment would be that their later discs are the most progressive of all.   But the term "progressive" was initially applied in the late 60's or early 70's to describe bands who took the basic instrumentation and stylistic devices of rock and brought them into a different context with the intention of creating something greater.  To me, that's what defines progressive music - working from the template of one genre, but reinterpreting the style to create something new.  In that sense, the ultimate progressive metal would be something like Gorguts' From Wisdom to Hate.  It's not avant-garde, despite what people may say - structurally, the songs are not far removed from conventional metal.  But it is undeniably progressive; there isn't a single element that is uncommon in metal, but the end result is something unique.  Yet I'm not holding my breathe for Gorguts to come up in a discussion of progressive metal anytime soon.  

So what's so progressive about Opeth anyway?  They combine metal with some other influences, but it tends to be in alternating passages.  With the exception of a few isolated instances, during the metal passages things stay fairly conventional.  Incorporating a few different styles into your sound is all well and good, but does nothing to progress the metal genre itself.  The problem, of course, is that "progressive rock" became a genre with just as many stylistic cliches as any other, and then the progressive adjective became used in reference to the cliches instead of the original intent of the music.  

What this long-winded discussion is leading to, of course, is the question of whether Back to Times of Splendor is actually progressive.  I'm voting yes, because of the bands ability to incorporate riffing from disparate metal styles, turning something that you thought was completely annoying into something very effective.  Take for example the pre-chorus riff in "And the Mirror Cracked".  It's a textbook example of this terribly overused melodic death/metalcore riffing style which usually makes me scream in pain, yet in this context it works perfectly.  Or in the second track, when the guitarist rocks on the harmonic - I thought only nu-metal guitarists did that?  Disillusion seems to disregard metal stylistic boundaries altogether - you'll hear straight up thrash metal beats or even blast beats in certain areas.  Yet somehow the whole thing retains a cohesive sound.

But forget all of that, because the songs are just damn catchy in the first place.  There's so much going on that you keep hearing new things even on the 8th listen, but at the same time there are enough vocal hooks to draw you in on the first listen.  Although I'll admit, on first listen I wasn't quite sold on the vocal delivery, or what I still consider to be a slightly awkward transition to the chorus on the first track - the only part of the album that I could even remotely complain about.  But now that I'm used to it, it honestly doesn't detract from the song.

I feel slightly bad for crapping on Opeth so much, because I do like the band, but basically everything Opeth does that I hate, Disillusion does the opposite.  Sure, Mikael Akerfeldt is a better singer than Disillusion's Vurtox (hey, I don't make this stuff up), but he certainly doesn't let you forget it either.  Ok, I got the message on Still Life; you've got the pipes of an angel.  Now do something interesting already.  The vocal delivery on Back to Times of Splendor couldn't be more varied short of some King Diamond-style wailing.  And then the other thing.  Everything on the last 5 or so Opeth albums sounds so damn perfect that I just wish they would take a risk or make a mistake.  And every second is so self-consciously proficient.  The playing on Back to Times of Splendor is unbelievable across the board, but it never sounds like they're playing a clinic.  The production probably helps with this - everything comes across clearly and sounds great, but it's not overly processed, which is something I really can't stand about a lot of prog-metal.

I mentioned the disappointment of the new Orphaned Land.  Basically everything I hate about Opeth, Orphaned Land decided to do.  Go figure it was produced by Steven Wilson.  He got bitten by the Opeth bug a few years ago, and now he's messing with Orphaned Land.  Where will it end?

Apparently Disillusion released a follow up to this album entitled Gloria, but it's in a completely different style.  I'm excited to check that one out as well.  I'm sure it will be interesting if nothing else.