AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DISPYT — “FRÅN MELANKOLI TILL MENINGSLÖSHET”

(Andy Synn steps in as a last minute substitute to host our premiere of the new album by Dispyt)

Up until about… let’s call it 24 hours ago… I thought I was done writing here for the week.

Unfortunately our great and glorious leader – who was originally intending to share his thoughts about Från melankoli till meningslöshet, the upcoming third album by filthy Finnish riff-mongers Dispyt (out 29 April) – ran into a few difficulties and was struggling to find time to put his thoughts into words here for us all to gorge upon.

And so, heroically and without hesitation, I volunteered my services… after all, I’ve been a fan of the band ever since I stumbled across their debut album, Den ständigt närvarande ångesten, more years ago than I care to think about, so who better to give them their due?

Whether you call them Black Metal, Crust Punk, Hardcore… or some other combination of all three (which, to be honest, would probably be most accurate)… one thing is for sure, Dispyt haven’t lost a step (despite undergoing a slight line-up shift, with founding member Owe Inborr swapping drum sticks for dank riffs) in the five long years since their last ferocious full-length.

If anything, the addition of new drummer Tommi Tuhkala (who, fun fact, also drummed on the first two Kvaen albums) has allowed the group to really cut loose, upping the intensity and leaning even harder towards the darker side of their sound – with killer cuts like in-your-face opener “Forna tiders svårmod” and powerhouse penultimate track “Förkrossad själ och blodiga händer” erring more towards Hellhammer and/or Goatwhore than His Hero Is Gone or Martyrdöd this time around (though the impact of the latter can definitely still be felt here and there, especially during “Livslustens katakomber”) – without sacrificing their well-document love of all things down ‘n’ dirty (and d-beat-y).

And while at just over twenty-three-and-a-half minutes in length it’s the shortest album of the band’s career so far (some may even go so far as to question if it really counts as an “album”, considering its length, but it definitely feels like one to me, naysayers and nitpickers be damned) the songs themselves – nine unrepentantly nasty, yet also irresistibly hooky, cuts of blisteringly blackened metallic brawn, all liberally and lovingly basted in a crusty layer of spitefully punky attitude and scorched-earth swagger – are actually, in general, a little bit longer and a little bit meatier at the same time.

As a result, as short and sharp a shock to the system as some of these tracks deliver – “Var fan är det fel”, for example, is just under one-and-a-half minutes of relentless blast-furnace ferocity, while “Ingen förtröstan” is a reckless, wild-eyed stampede that runs for just a little over the same amount of time – Från melankoli till meningslöshet also gives Dispyt a chance to groove a little more (even if some of those grooves are distinctly blast-driven), meaning that songs such as the bombastic bombardment of ragged-edged riffs and lethally-infectious lead melodies that is the title track, or the viscerally thrashy, virulently hooky “Men sist och slutligen handlar ju ändå allting om döden”, are able to stretch their limbs and flex their muscles a little more.

It’s not an album that pulls any punches, that’s for sure, but it delivers the sort of beating that’s bound to leave you more than a little punch-drunk and ready for another round all the same!

Från melankoli till meningslöshet will be available on all major streaming platforms and on 10″ vinyl with worldwide shipping via Elitbolaget.

Pre-save and pre-order options are now available here:

PRE-SAVE:
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/dispyt/frn-melankoli-till-meningslshet

PRE-ORDER:
https://www.levykauppax.fi/single/dispyt/fran_melankoli_till_meningsloshet/#1077800
https://elitbolaget.bandcamp.com/album/fr-n-melankoli-till-meningsl-shet

FOLLOW DISPYT:
https://www.facebook.com/DispytBand