Hailing from Linköping, Sweden, The Great Discord are a rather interesting bunch. Influenced by classic prog like King Crimson and more contemporary artists such as Meshuggah and Dream Theater, the Swedish five piece have an album which touches on a fair few things both musically and lyrically. Tackling the inner demons and strife associated with human nature and crafting it into something audible and melodic, “Duende” is an album which is designed to make you listen and to think.
The album itself is well composed. The first thing which really stands out is Fia Kempe’s vocals which deliver the dark themes with a beautiful and dynamic edge to them. This is quite the contrast to the music which accompanies them which shifts from subtle clean arrangements to full on powerful and distorted polyrhythmic feel madness. This “opposites attract approach” works fantastically and this is before we even look at the tracks in general.
Songs like the single “The Aging Man”, “Deus Ex Homine”, “A Discordant Call” and “Woes” have a very dark and haunting sound to them which comes and goes throughout the track, often growing more intense before shorter calm periods which allow some room to breathe before kicking back in with the darkness, whilst the other single, “Eigengrau”, along with “L’homme Mauvais”, “Selfæta” and “Angra Mainyu” have the more contemporary metal edge to them, bringing the harshness of the pseudo-djent like feel of Meshuggah and the complexities of Dream Theater. Incredibly heavy and precisely arranged, these tracks follow a similar rise and fall of intensity and dynamic mood swings. “Illuminate” is the black sheep of the album, a more positive, uplifting feel song whilst the album closer “Ephemeral” draws from all three styles of song to summarise the album brilliantly.
Musically, its spot on. The precision and timing of the songs is great and the composition and arrangements work well, making clever use of clean and distorted sounds and switching from polyrhythmic approaches to groove and chugging sections with little fuss. The vocal delivery helps convey the story of the song which really draws you into it and helps you experience just what each song is putting across and by the end of the album, you’ll find it hard not to start the musical journey into the darkness of human nature all over again.
Beautifully crafted, strong melodic vocals, solid musicianship and a very dynamic album with an intriguing concept behind it, “Duende” is essential listening for progressive metal fans, fans of epic/symphonic female vocal led bands and for those who like to be challenged to think by the music they listen to. Embrace the dark side of human nature and feel the passion of the Great Discord.
(8/10 Fraggle)
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