Review: The Great Discord – The Rabbit Hole

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The Great Discord

The Rabbit Hole – The Sign Records

Many would be forgiven for thinking that progressive metal has become a bit of a lumpen affair.  Bloated by the over indulgent and weighed down by a cargo ship full of introspective twaddle.  A once pioneering sub genre that has eaten way too many pies.  Swedish proggers The Great Discord may well make you think again if you are one of those many.

As the title would suggest this is an album that takes a look into the human mind, and what it finds isn’t pretty.  The really clever thing about The Great Discord is that they fit the music to the theme.  This sounds in places more like a film score than a music album, and that’s a good thing because that makes it a real prog pioneer.

Obviously when you’re dabbling in the experimental not everything comes off but on The Rabbit Hole very little can be considered a failure.  The vocals are breathtaking in pitch and range.  Fia Kempe uses her voice superbly throughout what is quite an eye opening record.  So much so just once or twice the production doesn’t quite match the actual performance.

Apart from that loss in crispness everything else is terrific.  The guitar work fits well and the rhythm section is rock solid.  You have to mention image too.  When a band puts in a real effort to create something that is more than just about sound then it’s important to recognise that.  With Kempe leading the way The Great Discord look like you’d want to kill to get to see them live.  Their imagery, a dark and disturbing world is brilliantly realised. Are you brave enough to enter The Rabbit Hole?  If you are you’ll be well rewarded.

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