There have been some great bands that I’ve enjoyed as we are
heading towards the end of 2014 and heading into the New Year in 2015. One of
the bands that have been going on since their formation in Detroit 27 years ago
is a group called Discipline. The band considers; Matthew Parmenter on Lead
Vocals, Keyboards and Descants, Jon Preston Bouda on Guitar, Matthew Kennedy on
Bass, and Paul Dzendzel on Skins and Percussion. I first heard Discipline’s
music on Prog Rock Deep Cuts with Ian Beabout and I was so blown away of the
music and the structures that reminded me of the theatrics and the sounds Van
Der Graaf Generator, Peter Gabriel-era of Genesis, and King Crimson.
Their third album released after their long hiatus in 2011 on
their label, Strung Out Records called, To
Shatter All Accord, is a beautiful, disturbing, and mesmerizing album. And
while this is my introduction to Discipline’s music, they have showed that they
can take it up a notch as Parmenter is following in the steps of Peter Hammill
and at times Alice Cooper as well to stay true and honest of
the sounds. The opening track, Circuitry has
the raw guitar riffs and solo, sinister organ sounds, moving piano piece, and
the interlude saxophone in the realms of David Jackson that you could tell is a
tribute to the sounds of Van Der Graaf’s music.
Then, it segues into When
the Walls are Down begins with piano and a jazzy sax coming in for a couple
of seconds as it kicks into overdrive thanks to Bouda’s guitar and Dzendzel’s
drumming as Matthew sings “You are alone here/seeing not knowing/beware
the shadows/in times of weakness.” What he’s saying to the listener is,
don’t be frightened of the voices inside your head. You have to beware of
what’s going around in times of desperate measures, you will become the fool
and there’s no one to help if the walls come down, just don’t get caught or you
will be in danger to yourself.
There is some intense rhythm from the band as Matthew’s
echoing vocals fill the hall with the swirling guitar and it fits the void and
the atmosphere like a whirling pool of terror to close it while Dead City has a simple and
straightforward vibe of the ‘80s. Then the two closing epics are the real deal
for Discipline to sink into for 13 and 24-minutes of music to really make you
buckle your seat belts to enjoy. The 13-minute When She Dreams She Dreams in Color, is a mesmerizing composition.
It begins with a jazzy and moody melody in the realms of Gnidrolog for the
first four minutes and twenty seconds as it kicks into a jam of a groove and
Matthew challenging Peter Hammill and the instrumentals open up.
The dooming guitar lines, slowed-down drums, piano,
crescendo ride cymbals, violin, and the mellotron sounds will take you into
another world in another dimension of the passages of time that is an excellent
improvisation that makes you feel you are alone and cold with nowhere to go and
it’s a sad and moody finale for the last 5-minutes that is a tribute at times
to King Crimson’s Starless and The
Beatles I Want You (She’s So Heavy). The
closing 24-minute, Rogue is where
Discipline comes as one.
I really enjoy this track because it shows Discipline
taking the darker side of progressive music into an evil territory as if they
were reading stories from H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, and Clive Barker
while listening to Peter Hammill’s solo album, The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage for inspiration. There are
some different passages whether it will be soaring, sinister, and beautiful thanks to Bouda going into a clean yet ominous approach
as Matthew’s voice and the time signatures as well to see which area the band
are going into that gives that jolt of electricity.
Amazing guitar work, organ, drums, bass, and vocalizations
makes it almost as if Discipline had done a score for one of the Italian Giallo
cinemas of the 1970s. I have listened To
Shatter All Accord about three times now and while this is my introduction
to Discipline’s music, I’m blown away of the band’s music and I can’t wait to
hear more of their music for years to come and what will they come up with
next.
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