Disposable – Life Misguided CD Review

11th July 2016 0 By Fraser

Crossover thrash has never really been my thing. I love pure thrash, I love a hint of death metal in my thrash, I love blackened thrash… but crossover has never really done it for me. Many of the genre’s most recognisable acts lean too far into hardcore and not close enough to thrash for my heathen tastes. But with their second EP, Life Misguided, Edinburgh’s Disposable have got the balance just right.

Following 2014’s full length At The Foot Of The World, Life Misguided is a four track slab of meaty thrash. From the open seconds of Scar My Eyes, the most obvious comparison one could make is that these young Scotsmen sound like a more mature, more serious Municipal Waste. For the entirety of Life Misguided, you are treated to an unrelenting assault of pounding drums, punishing riff work and the tortured shouts of frontman William Robertson.

Opening track Scar My Eyes has a super-catchy riff that carries for most of the song, breaking only for brief seconds of gang vocals in the chorus and a brilliantly smooth solo. Web of Fear stands as the best song on Life Misguided for me. The guitar work is, on the whole, more ferocious here than anywhere else on the EP, with the exception of the wonderfully hooky, anathematic chorus which sees a more melodic edge, and some of Robertson’s sinfully underused clean vocals. Complete with a beefy breakdown and a thrashtastic solo, Web of Fear may just be the finest, most enjoyable crossover thrash song ever to grace my ears. Closing track Shatter is a blasting groove-fest that almost borders into death metal at points and is guaranteed to get necks snapping.

Life Misguided is certainly not perfect, however, though my complaints don’t drift from my issues with crossover in general. The riffwork can seem repetitive at times, and Robertson’s shouted vocals can begin to grate after a while – if he focussed a little more on those stunning cleans, or chucked in some more extreme vocal styles the variety would add a whole new dimension to the music.

That said, Life Misguided is a strong EP and thoroughly enjoyable wherever you sit on the crossover fence. It is more than worth buying the release for Web of Fear alone, though every track on Life Misguided is a fun listen. Keep an eye out for these young thrashers, I, for one, am very excited to see what comes next for them.

Score: 7 out of 10

Album Info:
Track List:
1. Scar My Eyes
2. Web of Fear
3. Misery
4. Shatter