Hardcore veterans On Broken Wings don’t sound dated on their new effort Disintegrator. The group’s new album – their first in nine years – is full of mid-paced, down tuned bruisers laced with some dizzying licks (“Quicksand Breaths”, “Kunomuia”) that work. The guitars are chunky as hell, and the rhythm is groove-laden. The moderate tempo of the album provides a good pace for all out headbanging or a more casual nodding along. Featuring mostly screamed vocals, there are also cleans that add a certain eeriness at times (“Rubik’s Cube Obsession”) and contrast to the screams in others (“Quicksand Breaths”, “Dirt Nap”), in a good way. “Crowns Meant For Kings” is probably my favorite song, namely because it has this really great melody that leads up to the breakdown.
It also includes some oddity, namely in the form of third track “The Swamp”, a very quiet 32-second track of…I guess swamp sounds; also penultimate song “The Box”. Not sure what it’s doing there but it’s there. Then, there’s “The Garden” a standout track that hit me hard on the first listen. It’s an instrumental interlude that mixes the sounds of birds, static noise, and a quaint melancholic tune to go with it. They work as solid intros but really how many intros are needed on one album?
Overall Disintegrator is a solid listen. There are breakdowns aplenty, good production, and some peculiarities to mix things up.
The album hit stores yesterday through Artery Recordings and is available now at MerchNOW and iTunes. Disintegrator is now streaming online in its entirety, check it out below.
Disintegrator track listing:
1. “The Procession”
2. “Quicksand Breaths”
3. “The Swamp”
4. “Dragging Weight”
5. “Rubik’s Cube Obsession”
6. “Kunomuia”
7. “Crowns Meant For Kings”
8. “The Garden”
9. “Dirt Nap”
10. “The Box”
11. “Ego Ideal”
