This one you could probably see coming. Not that I was exactly contractually obliged to include Disease in Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life, but let's say there would have been potentially lethal consequences including the revelation that I once owned skacore albums back in the mid-90's, the names of which are best forsaken to the realm of eternal darkness. Hard stuff that might induce mental stupor and leave the listener's psychic balance into a state of disrepair. So as you see, what choice did I really have?
I have been a Disease believer for quite a while now and I strongly recommend you read the great interview I did with Alex a few years ago called At Ease With the Dis. I have grown to love the band's pious and solemn love for the d-beat philosophy and their fervent tenacity to explore, again and again, ways to express their adoration for Disclose and the significance of keeping their legacy alive for the very concept behind it (beside the pleasure to play distorted hardcore music, of course). Disease is a total d-beat band striving to embrace all the characteristics that could be approached the same way as Dispose - already tackled in this series - who have been an influence on the Macedonians (although the latter have certainly proved to be more prolific in the last years).
Their Disclose worship appears to be both the means and the end. They undeniably belong in the die-hards category that I found impressive and intriguing; inspirational too; heroic definitelu; quixotic almost. Like the endless repetition that defines d-beat music, d-beat as worship and system of references cannot know an end and will never reach a conclusion like the tragic, very real wars destroying the world. It is an unstoppable train running on passion and precision, a deceptively simple clock powering itself, a timeless compass always pointing in the same direction, a story meaningfully repeating its own plot through a single beat and breath.
Damn I'm feeling smart today. Neverending War Crimes stands as the record that, in my opinion, saw them fall in the "great d-beat band" category, a position they have further cemented since. It showcases the band's strength, especially the relentlessness they manage to infuse their music with. The hard-hitting drumming and the crispy distortion targeting the evergrowing audience of Disclose fanatics really work. I like how upfront and primal the vocals sound like, with neither effects nor filters (I have said it before but too many bands opt for drowning their voice in reverbs which might attenuate the sonic aggression), and how fast and intense the record is, with only "Why must we?" slowing things down a bit with a rather odd pace. As prophets of the Disclose cosmogony on a mission to spread the Word, Disease tend to work on different moments of Kawakami's inspirational journey and Neverending War Crimes is all about Disclose's faster "Swedish period", namely the mid-90's (Tragedy and of course The Great Swedish Feast) back when cavekäng bands like Shitlickers were still significant influences and it is obviously no coincidence if Disease also display a crude "dislickers" feel here that highlights the brutality and "wall of noise" effect that won't fail to discourage and disincentivize posers craving to boast the d-beat raw punk costume.
As a point of entry, this record - released through Rawmantic Disasters, Black Against Night, Crucificados Pelo Sistema and Grind Your Mind - will prove difficult to listen to for the inexperts as the music might make them feel like they are besieged by a noise plague. However, d-beat raw punk lovers must see them standing at the top of the pile, a feat not to be discarded, not just because of the harsh albeit friendly competition, but because hailing from Skopje it is significantly harder to tour in Western Europe than for Swedes. In the end this 11 minute long 12" Ep will delight Tragedy fanatics but the disbones-era believers will enjoy the wonderful Death Is Inevitable 2020 Lp more. Both sides have been reported to be at peace with each other but you never know what the future holds. Is a d-beat schism to be?
