HOUR OF PENANCE — Disturbance (review)

HOUR OF PENANCE — Disturbance album cover Album · 2003 · Brutal Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Disturbance" is the debut full-length studio album by Italian death metal act Hour of Penance. The album was released through Xtreem Music in April 2003. Hour of Penance formed in 1999 and released a demo in 2000.

The material on "Disturbance" is technical death metal in the darker and more murky end of the spectrum. It´s not in Portal territory, but the first thing that comes to mind when listening to the album is how much some parts of the music sound like early Immolation. The sound of the growling vocals, the sometimes twisted riffs, and the way the blast beats are played. It´s not that Hour of Penance is a clone act, but there are quite a few similarities to the legendary US death metal act on this album.

Hour of Penance are a technically well playing act and the growling vocals are solid. The vocals aren´t the most interesting feature on the album though and they do get a bit one-dimensional along the way (although drummer Mauro Mercurio adds a few screams now and again to spice things up), but when that is said the vocals get the job done and suit the music fine. The songwriting is decent but the tracks aren´t easy to tell apart, and the album does become a little formulaic in the end. The only track which is a bit different from the high energy and blast beats of the other tracks is the 8:39 minutes long album closer "Blood Tribute", which is slower and heavier with an epic atmosphere. It´s not that the other tracks aren´t good quality material, but it´s nice for the listening experience and for the variation of the album, that Hour of Penance show that they are capable of slowing down a notch.

The sound production is raw, brutal, and gloomy. It´s a bit rough around the edges, but the production suits the music pretty well. Upon conclusion "Disturbance" is a good quality death metal release and certainly a quality debut album. It lacks in the originality department and you won´t hear much here that you haven´t heard before on other brutal technical death metal releases, but the performances are tight, the sound production decent, and the songwriting effectful and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.
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