DIZASTRA "Elder Sun"

DIZASTRA

“Elder Sun”

Montreal’s DIZASTRA give it a mighty try on “Elder Sun” but this just did not click. There is energy here and some standout moments but on the whole, this just kind of blurs by like a vanilla whirlwind.

The band purveys a thrashy kind of black metal that reminds me of SKELETONWITCH and GOATWHORE. I like that style, but something about the riffing here just kind falls flat. The first few songs just blast by without much memorability. Vocalist Matteo Conti screams his lungs out but can be found in a bin marked “generic black thrash vocalist”. DIZASTRA plays around with a DISSECTION kind of melodic black metal blitz on “The Second Coming” and “Ashtaroth” but don’t quite measure up. Kudos for trying, though.

There are spots where we see the kind of band DIZASTRA could be. “Gnosis” is a darker, gnarly track that has a good and grimy DARKTHRONE groove to it. The biggest revelation, though, is the very last track, ironically an instrumental named “Terminus Est”. This has got some startlingly beautiful piano playing and the mix of aggression and melody is just right, making for an enjoyable track.

This cut gives me hope for DIZASTRA in the future and fan the flame of something that could be more memorable. But right now, it’s just too genetic on the whole.

DIZASTRA