(9/10) Hot on the heels of Brand New Sin (and even happy circumstances from Hatebreed), Disarray chime in with their fourth album, a record which slams with the metal danger of hardcore and grunge applied to thick old school grooves with a touch of the New Orleans sound. Gwar’s Dave Brockie produces the album with dirty, crushing results… embattled drums, turgid but warm, round Entombed-style guitars and harrowing hard-screamed vocals from heavy hero Chuck Bonnet buried perfectly in the mix: lava-thick sludge metal perfection personi-fried. For a power trio from Nashville, this is a mountainous onslaught of sound, perfect beer-drinking metal with integrity, heft and neck-snapping grooves. In fact, this sucker’s just replaced Brand New Sin as my favourite pick-up truck chugger, Disarray making pretty much everybody in this southern-slammed field (except for perhaps Superjoint Ritual) sound lame and tame by comparison. Pointer: stick around for ‘Powers That Be’ late in the sequence. – Martin Popoff
