Disincarnate
Dreams Of The Carrion Kind

This review has been requested from me many times and if that wasn't enough, a long time ago: I had planned to include it in the series "Exploring forgotten Death Metal", a series that unfortunately, having in mind more modern works that couldn't wait, I brutally interrupted at the eighth chapter. However, the series is not over and resumes today with this "Dreams Of The Carrion Kind" which represents the ninth chapter; I apologize in advance for the fragmentation of the work which, due to boredom from listening to and reviewing records with a very similar sound, prevents me from proceeding linearly with the analysis of Old School works.

Do you remember the name James Murphy? Do you say you've heard it before? That you seem to have seen him in Obituary? Or maybe it was in Cancer? What do you say? Was it in Gorguts? No, no, in Death! I'll give you the answer. Being a great guitarist, he wisely decided to put his talent at the service of many bands; in other words, he thought that to rake in some money it was much better to play in five groups that did the same thing, i.e., Old School Death Metal. Indeed. I don’t much like Murphy, I don’t like the fact that he is considered a guitar hero just because he persistently continues in his retro sound, I don’t like that he is praised by crowds of (not very) wise Brutallarensis and Metallarensis people, old and young, beautiful and ugly, rich and poor. James Murphy is considered a demigod. However, he does have some merit; he has good technique, he knows how to do solos well and, regardless of the real reason, he was in all the records that made Death Metal history.

We can say that, more than any other band he's played in, Disincarnate is his preferred "child", the one in which he has most instilled his musical taste, the one in which he has managed to dominate more. Result? Very good.

The year was 1993: a strange year for Death Metal, a year in which the big names had already been established and the small ones were trying to follow in their wake to find space. No wonder "Tomb Of The Mutilated" (Cannibal Corpse, 1992), "The End Complete" (Obituary, 1992), "Blessed Are The Sick" (Morbid Angel 1992), "Covenant" (Morbid Angel 1993) "Legion" (Deicide 1992), "Transcend The Rubicon" (Benediction, 1992), "Heartwork" (Carcass 1993), "Retribution" (Malevolent Creation 1992), "Breeding The Spawn" (Suffocation 1993) had just been released and Gorguts had just taken off with "The Erosion Of Sanity" (1993), leaving everyone stunned, playing songs that became old in a few months. The list I made is not complete, it just wants to provide a general picture of the mainstream of the time.

The Disincarnate CD diligently follows the styles of the most Old School Death, almost disdainfully refusing to embrace the nascent branch of Brutal Death; compressed guitars and riffing never too tight, the preference for times never too fast, and the reluctance to use Blast Beat give an idea of how this record intends to strongly reaffirm the foundations of the most classic Death. In fact, the intention to refound Death will not succeed, and "Dreams Of The Carrion Kind" will remain the band's only experiment, destined however to become a cult. Noteworthy are its particularly dark atmospheres, found only in a masterpiece like "Considered Dead" by Gorguts. No other album of the genre has ever succeeded in shedding to such an extent the typical Thrashy swagger inherited from the nearby eighties, so much so that it is strange to listen to a Death album (neither Prog nor Brutal) so "serious" and uninterested in creating a racket.

From a strictly technical standpoint, all the members do an excellent job, especially the drummer; despite not particularly loving accelerations, he does not skimp on counterpoints and offers a performance that is restrained but precise and enjoyable. Murphy, as I said, gives his best with a technical performance as always but finally a little more thought out and less immediate ("Beyond The Flesh"). Moreover, he succeeds in giving the record an aura, at least an apparent one, more mature than his previous works; we already know his skills and as much as I don't believe he can play much else outside of Metal, he reaffirms himself as an excellent guitarist. Excellent bass, too favored by a terrible production (very dirty, even unbearable if you do not have the original support) that makes all sounds full of echo and booming. The singer is "so-so," a classic growler from the early nineties which will say little to those looking for a special vocal style. The mood comes and goes with not always consistent efficacy; at some moments you feel absorbed by the enveloping darkness of the pieces, in others the riffing becomes more "open" leaving too much room.

"Dreams Of The Carrion Kind" is a work to be heard at least once in a lifetime: although it is not the best Death album of the early nineties, I believe that, if you want to delve deeper into this branch of Metal, it cannot be ignored. A lesson on how to make a Death album while Death is dying and still manage to do something good.

PS: if you are looking for the album, it is better to search for the reissue which not only costs less but also includes the songs from the demo "Soul Erosion" from 1992. The booklet also informs that James Murphy (whom I harshly criticized at the start of the review) was recently operated on for a pituitary tumor.