Following our interview at Bloodstock earlier this year, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the new album from Edinburgh thrashers Disposable. Their last release, last year’s Self-Dismantling Process EP, was an awesome triad of tunes that upped the technicality and brutality of the bands already aggressive thrash and crushing grooves. They told me that with the new LP, It’s Blood That Trickles Down, they really want to make a more straightforward punk approach with more direct lyrics. They don’t disappoint..
Immediately from pressing play, opener “40 Guns” sets the tone with its sonic firing squad of thrashing power chords before hitting the undeniably headbanging chug riff in the middle. The full force punk approach comes to the fore in follow-ups “Snakes on Ladders” and latest video “Binkicker” with straightforward chord-bashing, although the extreme metal flavours aren’t totally lost with some technical flair ending the former and blastbeat black metal chords ending the latter. The trend continues throughout the album, each track a short sharp shock of pure punk aggression resulting in a crushing crossover thrash record with flashes of extreme metal ferocity and heavy grooves that guarantee to make your neck swing.
The band’s signature vocal triple threat courtesy of bassist Billy Robertson and guitarists Jack Batcharj and Oliver Wardell makes It’s Blood That Trickles Down especially furious, with each spitting arguably their most powerful performances yet. A lot has happened in the world to piss everyone off and Disposable have taken the gloves off on this record. There’s no airs and graces, and eloquent wordsmithing is not to be found here. With the likes of “Who the fuck gave this cunt guns?” and “What I hate is fucking politics, cuz every single fucking politician is a prick”, there’s no words minced. The feelings are refreshingly honest and relatable with each scream, shout, growl and howl delivered with undeniable conviction.
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The latter half of It’s Blood That Trickles Down is marked by the an intense blast of technicality with “Complicit” – a serious thought provoking reflection on the conflict in Palestine sandwiched in between samples of the soldier who took their own life in protest, and the crowd chanting from one of the marches in Edinburgh. The album turns more tongue in cheek in the closing stretch with the likes of “Demandatory Suicide” (read it again) and it’s cheeky Slayer references, “Too Bad!”, “C.B.A” and a cover of Beastie Boy’s “Tough Guy” which bring a sense of fun beneath the aggression. The album ends with bonus track “Stomp Your Feet”, a different flavour presenting the band’s penchant for groovy beats, melodic guitar and clean vocals – the latter two elements of their sound noticeably absent from the record. Though not a bad thing as it wouldn’t suit the songs but it’s a nice way to end such an angry album with a fun shout-along melodic stomper.
The additional bonus tracks provide a fun insight into the development of It’s Blood That Trickles Down with demos of the title track, “Eton Mess” and “40 Guns”, the latter having a mid-paced thrash mid-section as opposed to the groovy one in the final cut. Cool riffs nonetheless which hopefully end up repurposed. The highlights of the bonuses are the live debut of “Complicit” which brings a smile listening to Disposable play it three times to rapturous applause as they keep messing it up, and the final track – an unreleased demo “50 000 Dead”. They really should have properly recorded this one because it’s a serious banger with a plethora of riffs spanning the spectrum from its punk beginning, death metal transition and bludgeoning grooves at the end.
Overall It’s Blood That Trickles Down fully delivers what I expected and more. It’s heavy, angry and straight to the point, without compromising Disposable’s established style. The balance of elements has been adjusted more in favour of the punk influence and it really suits them. I’ve not been this obsessed with a record in a while, listening to it every day since they kindly sent me it. The short run time and hooky riffs make for easy repeated listens so much so that the songs quickly become embedded in your brain. All in all an awesome album.
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