The sound of a cello gets pushed through your headphones with opening song ‘The Passenger’. A deep, low sound. After 30 seconds, the cello gets exchanged for the sound of a sharp electric guitar and the voice of lead singer Piet Overstijns. Distorted parts are alternated by calm melodic parts. Melodic, yet heavy riffs carry you to the next song.

“It is an ancient question: What is the purpose of life?”

‘Hell’ opens strong with steady strummed power chords. The guitar calms down and the Piet‘s voice comes in. A whisper comes in and growling vocals by Stefan Segers welcome us. The song becomes a bit lighter with a lead guitar playing a higher melody over the rough riffs.

“You’re dead.”

‘Oblivion’ starts with a mellow melody being played. You hear the guitar weeping in the background, the drums pounding some time. Then the growling voice is back, and the full band comes in all at once. A feeling of darkness covers you. The pace changes again; the guitars are faster, the drums follow. The pace changes back and forth, smoothly, each time.
‘Interlude’ gives us an instrumental song. I love the touches of the piano on top of the rough electric guitars. It’s fast and up beat. A strum rings out and a clean guitar takes over for a while. We get a break for a few seconds, and then it’s back to full speed for a while. Later, the pace changes again. This time still powerful, but calmer. ‘Interlude’ is a true treat to the ear.

‘Endgame’ wakes you up with a snap. A second guitar keeps holding long notes while the other one gives heavy riffs. The song marches forward steadily on a bed of drums that sometimes sound off, but are not. That drumbeat and the bass solo give the song an extra dimension.
‘Toxic Rain’ starts with a melody that sounds like an eerie lullaby. The guitars come in slowly but surely, playing long notes. After a few seconds, those long notes get changed for fast strummed chords and a growl. It all settles down and we get a clean voice. During the song, we get to experience different vocal performances.

‘The Demons Bite’ opens with an acoustic guitar and a vicious bass. The drum gets added, and the song picks up pace. A song that lets the demons speak and let your thoughts wander off. All the elements of this song seem to fall right into place and fit seamlessly together. I love the switches between the growling vocals and the clean vocals. The guitar solo plays with the other instruments and is the cherry on the cake of this song.
Closer ‘Infinite Fantasy’ starts with a clean guitar and gives a calm feeling. The electric guitar takes over with violins in the background, keeping that calm feeling around. The song stays steady and tells you its story as the longest song on the album, almost 8 minutes. Sit back and enjoy this one.

I love how the instruments speak during the album. The subtle changes, or sometimes even rough changes, make it that you feel like you’re in the album, like you’re experiencing it yourself.

Dyscordia is:
Piet Overstijns – vocals
Stefan Segers – Growling vocals / guitar
Martijn Debonnet – guitar / backings
Guy Commeene – Lead guitar
Wouter Nottebaert – Bass / backings
Chevy Mahieu – Drums

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