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Disciple - Scars Remain

 

	RELEASED: November 7th, 2006 PRODUCER:Travis Wyrick LABEL:SRE Recordings/Epic BAND: Kevin Young Brad Noah Tim Barrett Joey Fife
+ Great blend of melody and aggression, Improved songwriting, clear production - Most songs are good, but not great	TRACKS: 1.Regime Change 2.Love Hate (On and On) 3.My Hell 4.Scars Remain 5.Game On 6.Someone 7.After the World 8.Dive 9.Fight For Love 10.Purpose to Melody 11.No End at All

OVERVIEW

Even if my score doesn’t necessarily reflect it, this album is such a marked improvement over Disciple’s 2005 self-titled effort that I almost cried the first time I heard it.  Disciple has finally fused the best elements of their sound together – the raw screams and chunky, bass-in-your-face guitars of their first 5 or 6 albums are finally combined with the radio-ready hooks of the last record in a way that throws everything Disciple is good at into a high-energy alt-metal cocktail that just begs to be cranked till it rattles the windows.  The hooks are catchier, the guitars are heavier, the drums hit harder, the solos are notably better, and all around this is a really solid album from a band that’s finally finding out that maturity doesn’t mean you have to soften up.

SONGS

Scars Remain bursts out of the gate with the radio-ready heavy hitter Regime Change, which is definitely one of the choice cuts on this record and also a welcome re-introduction of Kevin James’ lethal scream. Love and Hate (On and On) is another slice of the same pie, and My Hell seems like it should work, but the time change to ¾ during the chorus still throws me and just doesn’t do it for me.  Fortunately, things get right back in shape with the pinch-harmonic-laced title track, and keep on rolling in the absurdly catchy Game On, a (gasp!) rap-metal cut that harkens back to the days of P.O.D. and Rage Against the Machine. Someone sports an intro riff that’s suspiciously similar to Staple’s “Pop”, but quickly moves on to succeed in it’s own right – this song is one that could have easily fit on the last record.  After the World is no surprise after Disciple’s ballad-laden self-titled CD, and this one sounds like it should easily be a radio cut…right in between Nickelback and Hinder.  Not a bad song (and I generally can’t stand the style of either of those bands), but certainly nothing to write home about either. Dive comes back out of nowhere to throw things back into groove metal territory and drives hard – another excellent cut, and Fight For Love makes for a 1-2 punch that makes you completely forget the ballad 2 songs earlier. Purpose to Melody sounds like something that could’ve been on Back Again, which leads us to “No End at All”, a closing ballad that easily blows“After the World out of the water.

CONCLUSION

After “Disciple”, I was honestly pretty worried that Disciple was falling victim to a disease known as Metallica syndrome and settling into writing painfully mediocre records that are mere hints of the artist’s former excellence.  Thankfully, Disciple went ahead and proved me wrong on this one.  This is a great hard rock record all the way through, and it’s high-energy crunch has more than restored my faith that Disciple can still kick out the jams and have plenty of juice left.

Review by Matt Rewinski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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