Here’s some reviews we had for our 2nd album Casualties of War.

WELOVEMETAL.COM
http://www.welovemetal.com/newsite/wordpress/2011/07/29/dischord-casualties-of-war/

Dischord: Casualties of War
July 29th, 2011 | Author: Martell

I’m a pretty lucky guy when I look at the grand scheme of things. Not only do I have a fairly successful blog that lets me write about metal from all over the world, but I happen to live in a fairly rural setting that just happens to be surrounded by some of the best metal I have ever seen live. Aside from the live acts we have amazing record companies like DIMINISHED FIFTH that only accept the best from their artists. When you get the best out of bands like BLACK MOOR and ORCHIDS CURSE you have quality that can compete with anything in the world of metal today.

With that being said I have to come right out and say that what DIMINISHED demands they appear to get because New Brunswicks DISCHORD’s new album CASUALTIES OF WAR is a brilliant piece of metal from my neighbour province. I have covered DISCHORD in the past and talked over and over again about the aggressiveness and energy they bring to their music. What I unfortunately missed though is a biography on the band that takes my understanding of these guys to a new level.

If you head over to http://dischord.ca you will find a biography that takes you through the humble beginnings of DISCHORD as a cover band named FREEDOM MILITIA, to the many membership changes, to their passion for metal that has kept them moving forward. To see a band write their own biography in a non-assuming way that’s meant to show you the men behind the instruments is rare and brought the emotional level of their music to a new level for me.

The love-fest between me and DISCHORD ends in that last paragraph because I know that CASUALITES OF WAR was meant to slay me in a metal massacre. The aggressive raw energy of the band is kept intact from start to finish and you can’t help but wonder how they are able to keep the pacing of the tracks so high.
The vocals in most places come across more as a bark than the typical guttural growl, but it works very well with the refreshing guitar riffs that are laced throughout the album. DISCHORDS brand of death metal is very modern with drum work that doesn’t rely on the past to steer the ship. The title track CASUALTIES OF WAR and SHADOW DEMONS displays the band song writing abilities of keeping the energy high with a total band effort.

MORTAL DIETY was my personal favourite on the album with its almost chanted message. The vocals come across as much harsher and the bass work shines. The song has a great hook that you don’t find in many death metal bands these days.
The song SOLITARY CONFINEMENT for me was an enjoyable yet baffling song. I loved the confusion of the song, but didn’t understand some of the pace changes. It feels like the band wanted to try something different, but when you have a sound this fresh you can tow the line for a while at least.

Overall DISCHORD’s CASUALTIES OF WAR is a nasty piece of metal that leaves you pressing replay over and over again. The barking nature of lyrical delivery and total band effort shows a path for death metal to crawl out of the monotonous ditch it has fallen into.

8.5 OUT OF 10 HORNS

Show me your horns,

Martell

 

NOISOGRAPHY

http://noisographyreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/album-review-dischord-casualties-of-war.html

Thursday, August 4, 2011Album Review: Dischord – “Casualties of War”
By Martin (sadly his last review before he departs from Noisography to work on his own music career)

Dischord, from Moncton, NB is definitely doing a lot of things right. What a solid record! Playing is great, spot on, and you can tell that nothing less than perfection was accepted through the recording process. This is local independent metal at it’s finest.

Casualities of War is a great opener to this album of the same name–the bridge really grabbed me, and the outro, with it’s barked army commands is chilling, evoking a bleak near-future of military rule; a perfect prep for this awesome 55 minute journey. What follows is a great showcase of what these guys are capable of–I never felt bored, they just keep it so fresh, so new–each track gives you a little surprise, something a little different than the last. Just when you think they’ve done it all and might go back to something more familiar, they go a bit further, and IT IS STILL GOOD.

The vocals are impressive, multi-layered growls, screams, screeches, (and singing in some parts too) and very well done and tasteful. I often have problems with metal vocals when I can’t make them out, and they get too repetitive and boring, but Robichaud (lead) and Gagné (backups) do a great job with keeping the voices varied and fresh. The lyrics really appeal to me too, going from dark future to black magic to inner conflict to political commentary, again, keeping things new and different but still cohesive.
I want to comment on the last couple tracks especially:
RCMP – I’m in agreement with Dischord here: still not lovin’ police! Right on, I appreciate metal with a message now and again!
Les Ténèbres – This one starts out nicely, again showcasing again the variety this band has to offer… and has a neat connecting theme throughout where an extreme metal riff is played without distortion and then with, really showing what difference the guitar effects make. But they both work! I did feel at one point though that maybe this is where all the leftover riffs ended up, some of the changes were a bit jarring and unconnected for me.
Solitary Confinement – By this point, what more new can Dischord come up with? Well, this track doesn’t bring much newness to the record but it’s a recap for me of all that’s happened in the last seven tracks. Clocking in at almost 11 minutes, it’s a look back and a reminder of everything that makes this record great.

Throughout the album, the rhythm guitar work is awesome–however the lead work leaves something to be desired; solos seem to be static groups of notes that don’t relate to each other or go anywhere. The exception is Mortal Deity–that solo did something for me, but I can’t really point out what it had that the others lacked. It just seemed to make more melodic sense, just my preference. The drumming and bass work is solid, technically amazing, but not really showy or innovative… but perhaps this is a good thing after thinking about it: no one member really takes the spotlight here, and I’m left with a sense of a tight band who acts as one, who are all on the same level and working together to create a whole music experience rather than to support one member.

Overall, the strongest point of this record is really it’s variety. Dischord is able and comfortable doing many different sounds, textures, and feels, while still keeping the final product rooted in a defined genre. They push the envelope the perfect amount–enough to keep the listener interested, but not too much so as to alienate them. I’m excited to hear more of this band because I know they’ll keep me guessing and listening. I’m sure they have lots more fresh material to share with us!

 

 SEA OF TRANQUILITY

http://seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=11421

If you like your thrash metal to be uncompromisingly brutal and violent, yet still thought-provoking and intriguing, the debut effort from Canadian thrashers Dischord may be right up your alley. With Casualties of War, their debut full-length album, the band dishes out an impressive serving of technical thrash/death metal with enough quality riffs and jaw-dropping slabs of musicianship to satisfy any fan of the genre. Dischord may not be shattering any boundaries with this
 debut, but it’s a strong and extremely promising starting point for this Canadian quintet.

Obvious points of reference on Casualties of War are Death, Dekapitator, and Pestilence, but Dischord doesn’t ever come across as a rip-off of any of these bands. Dischord’s impressive abilities as musicians keep them from ever sounding second-rate either, and I’d say all of the players in this group are extremely talented and gifted on their respective instruments. The killer riffs and solid compositions also keep things interesting throughout all of Casualties of War, and this album is generally devoid of weak sections. The only fairly significant complaint I can think of is related to the raw and unpolished production. Although the sound itself suits the music pretty well, the sound of the drums (especially the annoying snare tone) makes this one a bit tough to digest.

Casualties of War is generally a stellar debut album from Dischord, and I’ll be very curious to hear where they head in the coming years. They’ve created one of the year’s better extreme thrash albums for sure – fans of the genre should definitely take notice. I’d say 3.5 stars are well-earned here.

Added: September 4th 2011
Reviewer: Jeff B

 

LORD OF METAL

http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=19607&lang=en

Ramon: It is always nice to welcome Canadian guest, as a Dutchman. We have had very good experiences with that in the past, although I should not be mentioning that too much with a German chief editor. Before you know it he will re-write the entire article. No, that’s nonsense naturally, that would be going through way too much trouble for him and besides, it would be a first. Like said Dischord (when you surf for them, be sure not the mix them up with the record company with the same) is from Canada, knowingly from New Brunswick. This is their second album, but only the first to make it across the open sea towards our desks. So it is up to me to pick the first flower. They have done some ice gigs already and in a near future you can add a gig with Napalm Death to that, in their home base Moncton. I can’t see them venturing outside of Canada much, but hey, it is the second largest country in the world, so before you have all of that as a band, you may take some time.

Dischord plays death metal according to the traditional approach, but yet one can easily tell that it is a band from this day and age. The music is low and crude, but it leaves enough space for some sickened guitar melody lines to make it through. The vocals are also like one may (read “should”) expect from a death metal singer, with as the most special feature that there is a song in French on it, which is not too common. The guitarists know how to deal with the steel and I don’t want to keep out that they let a firm potion of thrash pore through and even some streetwise mentality. And also spoken words come by.
 The last two factors don’t get a very large deal of my interest as usual, but it doesn’t make much difference. Like I mentioned there is quite some skill aboard, but that is mostly used to copy (very good) existing bands. When I would put on five records, I bet you couldn’t pick Dischord out. Sad but true.
 That doesn’t take away I still think it is a pretty entertaining piece.
Rating: 66/100 (details)

 

APOCHS
http://www.apochs.net/CDs/Dischord-CasualtiesOfWar.html

There happen to be a few different bands with the name Dischord that you’ll happen if you search the band’s name, but for this review we’ll be addressing the Canadian Death and Thrash Metal act. This group formed back in 2005, and hasn’t really made a lot of waves up to this point. The group issued a few various releases through the years, but for 2011, the group found themselves signed to Diminished Fifth Records to issue their debut full-length album, Casualties of War. But, it’s not really the kind of album you would expect…
 
Much of the album’s music is a cross between some slower paced heavy Death Metal music with some Thrash moments thrown in. Many of the songs here last really long, with “Solitary Confinement” clocking in just shy of eleven minutes and only three songs under or around the five minute mark. This isn’t bad if the band can pull off some solid music to go along with it, and work within the realm of a good production quality. The audio to the recording is pretty good, though it does have it’s rougher raw traits. The vocals are pretty clear, the guitars have a nice distortion with a decent level on the bass to make that guitar heard in the mix. The bass kicks sound pretty strong without having much of a click, the kit if leveled well so it doesn’t drown anything out, and the vocals are a typical guttural approach that is pretty crisp, though there are times where you can’t quite make the lyrics out.There’s nothing that special about them, but they work, as do the random spoken word moments on songs like “Spiritual Suicide”. You also get some background higher pitched shrieks and rhaspy screams, which sound good, but sometimes can just really be overkill. “Casualties of War” also features a heavy Thrash moment with the vocals just being shouted towards the end in a manner to try to incite a riot or start a war as the lyrics suggest, and they do sound pretty good and energetic, but one can’t help sitting back and feeling a slight Rap element similar to something Ice-T may perform on an album.
 
But while the audio quality is pretty good, the problem comes from the music. Not all tracks here are all that great. “Casualties of War” has a pretty strong groove to it’s Death Metal performance that would give listeners more of a Morbid Angel vibe to it, which really helps to the track to become very catchy despite the high pitched nasal shouting in the background that sounds amateurish and even a bit silly compared to the more professional gutturals that adorn the rest of the album, clashing horribly between each other. This song sets the tone for the rest of the album. The music varies between slower and mid-tempo material, the gutturals are pretty good though sometimes can feel a little less energetic, and the higher pitched background screaming gets really annoying really fast due to the constant clashing and how often it’s overused. There’s also this echo effect on it or bad layering job, which really doesn’t them out either considering they are done the exact same way each time in each song to amp up a large amount of repetition on the release.
 
As you go through the release, you will find many songs that are not that bad, but have some small faults to them that will irritate you, like the repetitive sounding background vocals. “Spiritual Suicide” makes for another strong track and has a good focus on the more serious guttural vocals, though the music itself is not the most spectacular track. The atmosphere the music does kick up though does match the vocal approach, despite the gutturals feeling a little lackluster to other songs. “RCMP (Royal Corrupted Motherfuckin’ Pig)” is the best track to compare them to. The gutturals are fantastic on this, and even the screams work out well. There’s more to the background screams then one or two words being screamed at certain moments in the exact same manner, an energetic opening scream on each word then the last word having that scream held onto and doing a more human fade that ultimtely just gets cut off. However on this song there’s more words, and not every last word is held in that manner, being behind the gutturals and not just being their own set of vocals that don’t support the lead growls, really making those moments of the song sound rich and intimidating like nothing else this recording offers.
 
But of all the songs on the recording, aside for “RCMP (Royal Corrupted Motherfuckin’ Pigs)” obviously, it’s the closing tracks that are the most interesting and entertaining at the end of the day. “Les Tenebres” has a nice progression throughout the song, starting off slow and just gradually building or transitioning back to that slower pace in a rather conceptual manner. It’s actually pretty impressive and will better hold your attention then half the longer tracks on here, like “Silent Genocide” and “Shadow Demons”. The guitar work on here is fantastic, especially the well suiting guitar solo, and the drums seemlessly shift around in patterns and really aid to keep things fresh throughout the entire track. This track is also an instrumental that seems to build up towards “Solitary Confinement”, another track that shifts in and out of slower paced music, though this allows the higher pitched screaming to kick in more often with that same overused vocal style. Other then that, it’s still a good song.
 
Casualties of War may not be the strongest Metal offering, but despite some of it’s faults, there’s still some solid tracks on here worth checking out. The main problem becomes the more repetitive screaming approach that gives more of a Death Metal meets Goregrind kind of feel along the lines of Impaled or Ghoul, but in the end just winds up being more annoying then anything. There’s a lot that the band needs to work on with this release, and a good amount of maturing to be done to really create a more effective and rich sounding experience like that of the song “RCMP (Royal Corrupted Motherfuckin’ Pigs)”, “Les Tenebrous”, even the title trrack aside the Stuck Mojo-esque shouting fit towards the end. As for it being a debut album, Dischord does their best, and while it’s not something worth rushing out to buy, Casualties of War worth checking out once or at least sampling it through a friend or on-line retail sample MP3s to try to find the better songs you’ll like off the release.

 

 

Here’s some reviews we had for our first album Siege of Darkness.

EXCLAIM

http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=113&csid2=846&fid1=26620

Siege of Darkness
By Greg Pratt

Coming at us from Moncton, NB, this disc is surprisingly above the indie qualities the packaging promises. I dig the production sound, raw as it is, and this band hit the spot with their mixture of old Bay Area thrash sounds (right down to the songs that go on for two minutes too long — awesome!) and crossover vibe. Speaking of which, those Accused-like vocals steal the show, with Luc Gagne barking, screaming and gurgling like a madman the way a good metal singer should. Must be a hoot live. Lyrically, the band veer toward political and social issues, always a welcome change from the usual metal fare. The disc goes on too long and eventually it’s all a blur, and there are some demo-quality values that keep things a bit unfocused, but that somehow adds to the charm. Maybe if it was cleaned up it wouldn’t sound as good. (Diminished Fifth)

 

METALSTORM

http://www.metalstorm.ee/pub/review.php?review_id=4513

It has been a long time since I last heard a band with such an interesting offering, this band truly sounds like the old tape trading days, they sound so much like classic Thrash Metal that it’s really difficult to believe they’re not an underground band from the 80′s, and this is only their debut album.

Not many people really know this band, I know I didn’t, but when I received their album to review I was…in doubt actually, just look at the cover artwork, it’s incredibly raw and it almost looks like it was made by the band itself with some crayons and a scanner, now I even think it was drawn that way on purpose to fit with the “retro” concept, it must be!

The music is tight as hell, I see how many people will be hoping for something more brutal and insane, but this band is all about the old-school, their strength does not come in the shape of sickening blast-beats but in a more destructive way of playing. The record itself is what any Destruction or Coroner fanatic will love, it has one or two edgy approaches but they also come with a classic vibe surrounding them.

This CD is a must try for those who are nostalgic about the old days, I can easily picture myself trading this
 for a Cancer tape or an Xecutioner bootleg, damn it why in hell those things are now gone? Anyway, it would be wise if we keep an eye on this band, they have massive potential and I surely need to know what they’re doing next.

Performance:  7
Songwriting:  8
Originality:  7
Production:  6
 
Overall: 7.0

 

NECROMETAL

http://www.necrometal.com/site3/album-reviews/dischord-_-siege-of-darkness-ep.html

Man this band sounds pretty old school being the quality has that old sounding dirty feel to it. I dig this old school stuff over most of today’s bands which at times over produce their tracks which in this case doesn’t happen. They sound a lot like coroner at times but the vocals hold their own to a different style which for me is the only down side to the band I wish he would of stuck more with the lower tone stuff he pulls off better.
The leads are excellent with weird arrangements with the drums sounding almost like a marching tune. As far as the general sound it has a classic thrash feel with a muddy undertone to the tracks.

I commend the effort on the do it yourself mentally and brutal original art work which seems like it was hand drawn which for me has a more nostalgic feel than a lot of covers out there these days.

7/10
-Esoteric Ed

Brutal Tracks To Check Out:
Angels Inferno
AK-47

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