For a hot second I was tempted to base this review solely on the 30 second clips that were released via Amazon because my faith in Lo-Pro is that high but I felt it would ultimately be a disservice to the band and the body of work. I’m glad I waited though because while the teasers were epic in their own right, the finished product is absolutely jaw dropping.
On their third album, the first thing longtime Lo-Pro fans are going to ask is this: “Who is this band?” Long time Ultraspank fans, however, will be asking: “Where has this band been?” The aggression is back mixed with the strong songwriting and melody throughout the bands’ previous two releases making Disintegration Effect something more than Ultraspank 2.0.
It’s as if the band has come full circle. The seeds for this evolution (Or regression depending on how you look at it) were evident even on their 2003 self-titled debut on songs like “1Day” and “Walk Away” where vocalist Pete Murray’s ferocious growl simmered just underneath the surface. Here it’s back in all of its glory and with songs like “Sheer Electronic” even sharing samples from “Wrapped” off Ultraspank and “Dig In” stealing some DNA from Progress’ “Crumble” making it apparent that Ultraspank is back as well. Sort of.
Beginning with the mechanical tribalisms of “Give Me Life” and leading into the drum n bass intro that gives way to Neil Godfrey’s nasty riffing in “Wasteland”, Disintegration Effect immediately sets itself apart from any other Lo-Pro release. That’s not to say that the “old” Lo-Pro is gone, though. Sure enough, songs like “We Are The Ones” and the Middle Eastern-tinged “Bow Down” resemble the first two releases but even there the aggression is apparent.
Elsewhere, “Soulless” is just vicious with both Godfrey and Murray absolutely unchained while “Obedience” is this grand gesture of heaviness that is the perfect set opener especially after hearing Murray’s opening salvo of “Freedom! Is! Death!” and the mechanical shredfest that Godfrey disperses.
If you were looking for an extension of The Beautiful Sounds Of Revenge or a merger of that album and the recent Life On Planet 9 release then you may have come to the wrong place. If you came looking for some heavy rock with heart, then Disintegration Effect is the album for you.
Disintegration Effect is out now through Itunes, Amazon, and CDBaby.
Grade: A+
2 comments
Mark Gonzalez says:
May 17, 2013
You nailed it! Review is dead on. Cool to hear your an Ultraspank fan…as I can hardly find any these days amongst the CORE bands. I also noticed the laugh sample from ‘Wrapped’…it felt awesome to hear that sample..as it was a nod to Ultra. Also the ‘Dig in’ intro rythm vox are like that part in ‘Crumble’…thought that was really cool too. Those Ultra nods. Again, awesome review…and cool to know it was an actual fan who knew their homework reviewing the band. Cheers to the new album! Been jamming it everyday.
Jackson Horvat says:
May 18, 2013
This is an awesome music. I want to jump and dance to it. I’ll try to get the chords and stuff. The music is definitely not soulless.