Reroute to regain

Disbelief
Navigator
(Massacre, 2007)

Here is the latest set from one of hundreds of Eurometal bands that I believe should be much better known in the States. Over several years and albums, Disbelief built themselves a unique style somewhere between death, doom, hardcore and shoegazer that managed to be very atmospheric and brooding while maintaining a combative, steamroller force. Imagine a mix of Burst, Cult of Luna, Katatonia and Runemagick, then deport all those Swedes to Germany, and you've got a rough idea. Their last few albums have seen them incorporating traits that might ingratiate the band with those American radio hard rock fans who are stuck about a decade behind the times, with mixed results. Indeed, people who think bands like Slipknot or Deftones are the height of today's metal innovation might find their last album, 2005's 66Sick, an amazing revelation. Although I enjoyed some of the tracks which retained that idiosyncratic Disbelief knack for churning, expansive melancholy, I was a bit disappointed by all the bouncy rhythms and vocalist Karsten Jäger's occasional lapse into an alarmingly Jonathan Davis-like whine-to scream. Along with their move to Nuclear Blast Records, where a number of formerly European-sounding acts had mysteriously begun to adjust their sound for stale American tastes (see In Flames, Soilwork, that one Hypocrisy album), things didn't look good for the Disbelief I had come to admire. I expected an even more diluted effort this time, a bunch of cheesy synthesizers, a guest female vocalist, maybe some "edgy" rapping.

Well, put me in overshoes and call me a duck, because Navigator is the best Disbelief album in years. Seriously. While I'm sorry they had to slink back to Massacre Records, which makes them all but invisible to the American market, they've also repurposed their approach. Guitarist Olly Lenz left the band (due to "health problems"), but it's unclear whether this affected the new material. Behind the board, producer Michael Mainx takes over from 66Sick's Tue Madsen and reinstates the thick, murky mix that Disbelief deserves. The cover art has me picturing them literally sailing back to more familiar waters, yet not completely forgetting the tourist port of punchier rhythms to which they'd briefly detoured. The title track starts things off with a downtuned rumble, Jäger doing the croak-singing during an interlude but otherwise delivering his gut-wrenching roar. The doomy, textured numbers "The One," "Passenger" and "Sacrifice" trudge and heave in a nod to the band's formative years. "When Silence Is Broken" and "Falling Down" find Disbelief swinging midpaced grooves with all their might, while "It Is Simply There" actually speeds up to thrash pace once in a while. All of Navigator's most rancorous moments feel more organic and less opportunistic than the nü-metal vibes that cluttered 66Sick. Novice listeners will probably still hear a little of that (simplistic chugging riffs, loud snare drum), but trust me, this is the album Disbelief should have made years ago. It would be awesome if Navigator somehow caught on over in the States now that they've shed their overt Americanisms... not that you can find the disc outside mail order, but please allow a jaded guy the occasional dream.