The Prestige

Instead of continuing the experimental and slightly more atmospheric approach of 2006's "Burn me Wicked", Illdisposed have decided to take a step in the classical direction that characterizes their typical stomping Danish sound. Another spawn from Denmark's finest beer guzzling, scrotum scratching devastation kids in terms of brutal music with a character and most importantly, with a vengeance. Illdisposed have managed to rollercoaster ride themselves through the last decades beautifully, reaching highs and lows, but still slamming themselves through any at all given circumstance. There seems to be no stopping this bulldozer of heavy, authentic and eager music.

While their previous album included a lot of guest vocals from Mikkel Sandager, a friend of the band's, which was received with ambivalent enthusiasm, Illdisposed slam dunk yet another modern death metal pearl, which is always a little bit different than one would normally expect from this genre. Their sound has evolved into a very clean stream, that is thunderous and booming, yet flows with an extreme form of vigor. "Prestige" is exactly what the boys are going to get out of this album, since the constant flow of the music is only exceeded by increasingly aggressive touch that only Bo Summer on vocals can express exponentially throughout his performance. This guy is like a giant living steam oven. You just behold in awe. When it comes to a solid vocal delivery, our "subwoofer" is one of the big boys, one that will never disappoint in any way, ever. "The Prestige" is the eighth installment in Illdisposed's discography, which presents itself with a rather short intro song, "Let Go", that introduces the listener not only to the roots of the band, but also to the mayhem that awaits. No fancy ambient or unplugged acoustic intro, nothing too majestic or half hearted, just the basic introduction to a formula used throughout this album. Of course each and every song that followes is spiced up with everything a smashing song needs, such as catchy tunes, fitting bridges that hold the feeling tight or the trademark use of effects that is oh so typical for Illdisposed. Compared to most cheap bands who try to create the same stuff, but fail in terms of authenticity, Illdisposed manage to capture a feeling, pound it into a song, sustain that feeling through changes in tempo or variation in melody. The recurring themes of a song do not repeat themselves too often, like some choruses tend to do, which occasionally contributes to destroying a whole song, but in exchange, through their infrequence, create the perfect symbiosis between harsh parts and catchy tunes. That is the magic of this band and what makes them so great.

I've always been a big fan of Bo Summer. His funny German announces on stage and in the songs are always with a tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, that one would only perceive, if one speaks German himself, yet such illustrations as "Ich Bin Verloren In Berlin" (I am lost in Berlin) are as entertaining as they are genuine. When Illdisposed finishes an album, they always do it with style, as they manage on 2008's "The Prestige" yet again. Illdisposed are the perfect representation of what heavy metal is about: alienation, authenticity, and most of all so much balls, that not even a whole footballsack couldn't enwrap. If you're going to listen to modern day metal, don't count out Denkmark's finest schwule nutten! Enjoy.

(written for metal-archives.com and TMO on 28.12.09)