Review by Carl on January 25, 2021.

I don't know about you, but I love these underground gems from the early to mid 90's. Usually these are not the best sounding or most technically capable albums, but they are aggressive as hell and simply ooze enthusiasm and underground spirit, and that's what I truly appreciate about them. Take for example albums like Nuclear Death's "Carrion for Worm", Graveland's "Carpathian Wolves" or "Documentaries of Disgust" by Disordered, I simply adore these albums, in all their obscure, raw and sometimes clumsy glory. Germany's Dysentery fits in very well among those already mentioned, dropping a debut full length in 1993, but I can't imagine a lot of people taking notice. I myself only discovered it a month or so ago, but it managed to pull the right strings with me, despite its flaws.

I went into this expecting an early example of what is sometimes called pathological grind (you know: early Carcass, Regurgitate, early General Surgery, ...), and found myself somewhat disappointed after discovering it didn't sound quite like that. After repeated listens though, it did start to grow on me, mainly because the band take their cues from some older (different) sources than your average grindcore band did at that time. The music does have it's grindcore parts, with bands like Agathocles and Blood as clearest reference, but the music has me thinking more of a blend of crude hardcore/thrash bands like Concrete Sox, Extreme Noise Terror or Cryptic Slaughter on one side and primal black/thrash on the other. Perhaps it's the production on this album, but it had me thinking of albums like Sodom's "Obsessed by Cruelty" and Bathory's "The Return", with nods to Hellhammer and even Venom, at times. It's old school goodness galore! The vocals are the point where the influence of Carcass really creeps through, with the band both employing a gargling and a down pitched style, and thankfully, here it adds a cool touch to the music. The use of pitched vocals is always hit or miss, it either adds to the music or it sounds totally ridiculous, there's no in between. Here it hits the mark, and combined with the primitive thrash/death/grind that the band has on offer, it actually gives Dysentery somewhat a face of it's own. Held together by a deliciously raw production, this release manages to tick the necessary boxes to make it one of those charming underground gems from days gone by.

There are however some things that landed less well with me. Take the riffing, for instance: for the most part it is simple yet effective, like old Sodom, but at times there are parts that are just boring, something that is not helped by the fact that Dysentery has the tendency to make their songs pretty long. The bulk of the material clocks in around the 4 minute mark, with one track even passing 7 minutes runtime. Perhaps it would've been a good idea to "trim the fat" here and there. Also, in the final mix the drums are somewhat in the background, which has as a result that in the fast parts the drums get drowned out by the guitars, making it sound messy and directionless at times. Still, these little gripes aside, this is still a great enjoyable piece of work that I enjoy a lot.

This is one of those obscure underground gems that oozes with enthusiasm and charm despite its flaws. Dysentery certainly deserves a place between illustrious names such as Judecca, Repulsion, Naked Whipper, Atrocity (US), Black Funeral, Necrosanct and the rest of their contemporaries. I can surely recommend this to all who have a special place in their black pus-filled heart for raw death/grind/black/grind/... from the late 80's and early 90's.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on January 25, 2021.

I don't know about you, but I love these underground gems from the early to mid 90's. Usually these are not the best sounding or most technically capable albums, but they are aggressive as hell and simply ooze enthusiasm and underground spirit, and that's what I truly appreciate about them. Take for example albums like Nuclear Death's "Carrion for Worm", Graveland's "Carpathian Wolves" or "Documentaries of Disgust" by Disordered, I simply adore these albums, in all their obscure, raw and sometimes clumsy glory. Germany's Dysentery fits in very well among those already mentioned, dropping a debut full length in 1993, but I can't imagine a lot of people taking notice. I myself only discovered it a month or so ago, but it managed to pull the right strings with me, despite its flaws.

I went into this expecting an early example of what is sometimes called pathological grind (you know: early Carcass, Regurgitate, early General Surgery, ...), and found myself somewhat disappointed after discovering it didn't sound quite like that. After repeated listens though, it did start to grow on me, mainly because the band take their cues from some older (different) sources than your average grindcore band did at that time. The music does have it's grindcore parts, with bands like Agathocles and Blood as clearest reference, but the music has me thinking more of a blend of crude hardcore/thrash bands like Concrete Sox, Extreme Noise Terror or Cryptic Slaughter on one side and primal black/thrash on the other. Perhaps it's the production on this album, but it had me thinking of albums like Sodom's "Obsessed by Cruelty" and Bathory's "The Return", with nods to Hellhammer and even Venom, at times. It's old school goodness galore! The vocals are the point where the influence of Carcass really creeps through, with the band both employing a gargling and a down pitched style, and thankfully, here it adds a cool touch to the music. The use of pitched vocals is always hit or miss, it either adds to the music or it sounds totally ridiculous, there's no in between. Here it hits the mark, and combined with the primitive thrash/death/grind that the band has on offer, it actually gives Dysentery somewhat a face of it's own. Held together by a deliciously raw production, this release manages to tick the necessary boxes to make it one of those charming underground gems from days gone by.

There are however some things that landed less well with me. Take the riffing, for instance: for the most part it is simple yet effective, like old Sodom, but at times there are parts that are just boring, something that is not helped by the fact that Dysentery has the tendency to make their songs pretty long. The bulk of the material clocks in around the 4 minute mark, with one track even passing 7 minutes runtime. Perhaps it would've been a good idea to "trim the fat" here and there. Also, in the final mix the drums are somewhat in the background, which has as a result that in the fast parts the drums get drowned out by the guitars, making it sound messy and directionless at times. Still, these little gripes aside, this is still a great enjoyable piece of work that I enjoy a lot.

This is one of those obscure underground gems that oozes with enthusiasm and charm despite its flaws. Dysentery certainly deserves a place between illustrious names such as Judecca, Repulsion, Naked Whipper, Atrocity (US), Black Funeral, Necrosanct and the rest of their contemporaries. I can surely recommend this to all who have a special place in their black pus-filled heart for raw death/grind/black/grind/... from the late 80's and early 90's.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on January 7, 2010.

The band has made a gleaming type of Melodic Death etal that brings some chops to the table. I can certainly hear In Flames circa about "Colony" here and if you liked that type of approach then you’ll enjoy what’s to be found here.

There’s definitely a lot of melody to be found here and a very different style to "Nebularium" which put progressiveness in the forefront. "The Isolation Game" should appeal to a certain type of listener, one that craves accessibility at the forefront. There’s also a sort of Metalcore vibe that is to be found especially when compared directly to their other work again.

It isn’t overtly present, however, and Disarmonia Mundi are still able to craft something reasonably enjoyable despite certainly stepping into more easy to listen to territory. There is certainly an excitement to be found that is infectious and overwhelms the disc as the band seem to be having fun playing their roles. The vocals alternate between harsher and clean ones in a manner that is done alright, but brings out a slightly cheesy sound in the cleaner ones.

I really liked the acoustic break to be found from 'Glimmer' as it breaks up the remaining melodic death pacing. As a whole "The Isolation Game" is pretty good, but not up to the level of quality of "Nebularium" for certain. The work just sounds overly easy to digest and like it’s not trying hard enough to innovate. Get it if you like more accessible Melodic Death metal, but if this doesn’t sound appealing to you, it might be better to pass on it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 6
Overall: 7.0

Rating: 6.9 out of 10

Review by Adam M on January 7, 2010.

The band has made a gleaming type of Melodic Death etal that brings some chops to the table. I can certainly hear In Flames circa about "Colony" here and if you liked that type of approach then you’ll enjoy what’s to be found here.

There’s definitely a lot of melody to be found here and a very different style to "Nebularium" which put progressiveness in the forefront. "The Isolation Game" should appeal to a certain type of listener, one that craves accessibility at the forefront. There’s also a sort of Metalcore vibe that is to be found especially when compared directly to their other work again.

It isn’t overtly present, however, and Disarmonia Mundi are still able to craft something reasonably enjoyable despite certainly stepping into more easy to listen to territory. There is certainly an excitement to be found that is infectious and overwhelms the disc as the band seem to be having fun playing their roles. The vocals alternate between harsher and clean ones in a manner that is done alright, but brings out a slightly cheesy sound in the cleaner ones.

I really liked the acoustic break to be found from 'Glimmer' as it breaks up the remaining melodic death pacing. As a whole "The Isolation Game" is pretty good, but not up to the level of quality of "Nebularium" for certain. The work just sounds overly easy to digest and like it’s not trying hard enough to innovate. Get it if you like more accessible Melodic Death metal, but if this doesn’t sound appealing to you, it might be better to pass on it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 6
Overall: 7.0

Rating: 6.9 out of 10

Review by Adam M on January 7, 2010.

The band has made a gleaming type of Melodic Death etal that brings some chops to the table. I can certainly hear In Flames circa about "Colony" here and if you liked that type of approach then you’ll enjoy what’s to be found here.

There’s definitely a lot of melody to be found here and a very different style to "Nebularium" which put progressiveness in the forefront. "The Isolation Game" should appeal to a certain type of listener, one that craves accessibility at the forefront. There’s also a sort of Metalcore vibe that is to be found especially when compared directly to their other work again.

It isn’t overtly present, however, and Disarmonia Mundi are still able to craft something reasonably enjoyable despite certainly stepping into more easy to listen to territory. There is certainly an excitement to be found that is infectious and overwhelms the disc as the band seem to be having fun playing their roles. The vocals alternate between harsher and clean ones in a manner that is done alright, but brings out a slightly cheesy sound in the cleaner ones.

I really liked the acoustic break to be found from 'Glimmer' as it breaks up the remaining melodic death pacing. As a whole "The Isolation Game" is pretty good, but not up to the level of quality of "Nebularium" for certain. The work just sounds overly easy to digest and like it’s not trying hard enough to innovate. Get it if you like more accessible Melodic Death metal, but if this doesn’t sound appealing to you, it might be better to pass on it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 6
Overall: 7.0

Rating: 6.9 out of 10