Vinyl Feature: Diskord's Dystopics

Well, I messed up big time. I forgot my vinyl feature last Friday. Now seems like as good a time as any to give a quick sneak peak at what recently crawled into my vinyl collection, a beautifully crafted two-tone record, courtesy of our Norwegian friends, Diskord. Shipping from Norway was brisker than expected, thanks to a professionally run label (No Posers Please!), and the album arrived in my hands at a sliver under two weeks. Needless to say, I was impressed, but I was also psyched that the guys were generous enough to give the record's slipcase a marvelous graffiti bath at my request.

The back of the record's jacket is meticulously embossed, the logo raised so you can run your fingers over the material and feel a slight difference in elevation between the two. Small details like this will always garner a second look from me because they show attention to quality. And for only $13.50, this is an exceptionally nice package.

I make it no secret that colored vinyl isn't at the top of my list, but I really enjoy the split down the middle that divides the wax into two colors: black and yellow. Black represents the industry's tried and true formula for excellent sound quality. Yellow touches upon Diskord's brilliant avant-garde nature, as well placing a tie to the abstract cover art. Much like Dystopics' track roster, a good amount of effort was put toward separating the release from the endless flow of blanket bands and multi-colored records.

Wonderful detail.

I won't comment on the music too much because I already reviewed Dystopics last month, but the album is surely one of the best to hit the scene all year--if not the last few--because all the right steps are taken to detach Diskord from the OSDM revival. There's nothing wrong with leaning on the classic sound, either; a change was simply in order to draw and attract listeners to death metal. Diskord was up for the challenge, and they brought the goods.

No Posers Please! has done an excellent job with this record from the alluring packaging--including hand numbering each of the 525 records--to the spectacularly unique color choice. Based on the already bustling and busy stockpile the label has, chock full of obscure thrash, black, death metal, and grindcore releases, I see a bright future for Hans Jørgen Ersvik's underground-oriented label/distro and for both Diskord and bands contemplating pulling the trigger on a record deal.

-TMA

The Diskord trio.