Published on May 23, 2000
When I was a teenager working in a gas station, one of the
mechanics who was a friend of mine used to kid me about my love of
heavy metal. Every time he’d hear one of my tapes playing, usually
as I got in my car to leave for the day, he’d mock the music,
screaming, “Aargh! Kill your mother and eat your dog!”
After listening to
Hate Campaign, the latest release (and fifth full-length
disc) from Sweden’s Dismember, I’m starting to think that my friend
had a point. For 33 minutes, the listener is bombarded with a
non-stop assault of speed metal and screams that barely pass for
vocals – so much so that it’s almost impossible for you to come up
for air at all. It’s repetitive, it’s a bit boring… and it’s all
been done before, only better.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I still love metal, especially speed
metal. But vocalist Matti Karki and crew make it pretty difficult
to like Dismember on a number of counts. First is the rapid-fire
succession of the songs – I mean, there are times where I don’t
think there’s even a miniscule break in the guitar chords to serve
as notice that the songs are changing from one to another. If I
hadn’t been paying attention to the display, I’d never have known
that “Beyond Good & Evil” had ended and “Retaliate” had
started. What’s more, I probably wouldn’t have cared, because the
tunes sound so much alike – hence my description of boring. Only at
the end, in the title track, is there any change worth noticing –
and by then, it’s too late.
The second problem is the actual execution by the band. Karki is
so into screaming and growling out his vocal tracks that any
attempt at translation is immediately thrown out the window. This
might seem like a double standard, seeing that I love the way that
Napalm Death’s Lee Dorian used to grunt out vocals – but at least
that fit the mood of the music. In Dismember’s case, I would have
liked to have been able to understand Karki at least a few
times.
The presentation of the music also isn’t the most stellar.
Drummer Fred Estby doesn’t sound like he’s quite cut out for the
world of death or speed metal; so many other drummers could pound
circles around him on just the kick drums alone. The two guitar
attack of David Blomqvist and Magnus Sahlgren just doesn’t
materialize the way one would hope that it would. It’s just too
chaotic for a band who have been on the scene long enough to know
better.
Will
Hate Campaign dissuade me from listening to death or speed
metal? Hardly; if anything, this disc helps me to appreciate the
groups that have mastered the genre… and it serves as a reminder
that not every band can handle it. Sadly, Dismember seems to be one
of those.