Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (2004)^{Release ID: 3818}

I paid very little attention to Disillusion because people only really talk about the one album, their debut Back to Times of Splendor.  That's a bit of a disappointment to me considering I like to explore plenty of an act's catalog before moving onto the next.  But it's necessary for me to check them out considering that debut album's reputation, my desire to be a professional critic and the list challenge here.  I didn't have any prior knowledge of them, and had no idea what to expect, but was hoping it wouldn't just be another standard prog album like a few of the albums on this same list challenge.

I'll admit, I haven't been extremely impressed with many of the choices on Metal Academy's 2nd-era prog metal challenge list.  So when I started the album, and this vaguely Egyptian prog-death opener assaulted me with a complex rhythm that was extremely easy to get to and heavier than a granite boulder, my attention was at full.  I was especially happy with this considering that I'm just coming off the back of Dan Swano's solo piece, Moontower, which was standard prog metal but could've been a little heavier at times without relying on so many 70's German prog synths.  Instead they rely on a perfect melodic / complexity balance as a focal point, as if they knew they were showing off.  But the thing is, this album never once feels like guitar wankery.  The rhythms are always easy to work with, and the band is in perfect harmony.  Due to how focused everything it, it's obvious that Disillusion is trying less to be "musicians" and more to be a "band."  Even when it switches things around a little, like the death metal middle section of Alone I Stand in Fires, nothing really feels out of place.  It's so consistent that sometimes the cool surprises might go over your head.

Due to the fact that the singer and the guitar tone are pretty standard for 2000's prog, I was more impressed than amazed, as if this was just an upgraded version of standard prog albums like Shadow Gallery's Tyranny.  Think of this whole album as a much more clever (and somewhat heavier) collection of many things that give standard prog its own name, from the guitar tones to the softer acoustic moments to being inches away from death metal to an occasional power metal segment to a romantic adventure story.  So while I didn't get the unique album I was hoping for, suffice it to say, I still got a great one that has a lot of clever technicality and never once loses its grip.  I would easily recommend this, although I wouldn't put it in my top 500 metal albums.  Maybe it'll be the in the lower end of my top 100 prog metal albums, but it might get kicked off soon.

Occasionally during my journey through a lifetime of metal exploration I’ll come across a release that puts me well & truly outside of my comfort zone but is simply done so well that I can’t help but let my defences down & the 2004 debut album from German progressive metal outfit Disillusion is one such record. You’ll rarely find such an ambitious & fully realised debut effort & could be forgiven for mistaking it for the culmination of a decade or more of studio experience so I wasn’t surprised to discover that Disillusion had been around in one form or another for a full decade by this stage in their evolution.

I first encountered “Back To Times Of Splendor” in 2009 & recall being seriously impressed however I haven’t felt the need to return to it until now & are very pleased to find that my feelings haven’t changed over the years. It’s charms are built on a foundation of melodic death metal & you’ll easily be able to pick up the influence of bands like At The Gates however the lengthy track durations & more expansive arrangements see the album residing firmly in the progressive metal camp with Opeth being the main point of reference. The consistent use of synthesizers really fills out Disillusion’s sound & gives it a more epic feel although I do think the album could have done with a touch more dynamic range as a result. The execution & performances are quite brilliant while the production is more than suitable for a progressive metal release with its clarity & power providing the material with the full scope to dig its teeth in. This isn’t the most technical of progressive metal releases but there’s an intelligence & professionalism to the song structures that again hints at a seasoned veteran of the scene.

The vocal delivery of front man Vurtox isn’t the most stunningly charismatic you’ll hear with his hooks being more subtle & veering away from your typically light-weight melodeath cheese towards a warmer & more rewarding outcome that may not knock you for six but is memorable enough to prick your ears up. His style seems to be a hybrid of the quirky ADD-fueled rants of System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian & the clean gothic musings of My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe with the odd death metal outburst giving the album the required level of underground appeal. The vocals aren’t the main focal point of Disillusion’s sound though in my opinion. Their appeal seems to be centred more around building a big sonic soundscape full of classy arrangements & pristine execution & if that was their ambition then they’ve succeeded in no uncertain terms.

“Back To Times Of Splendor” is an imposing way to start a career & it’s easy to see why it had such an impact on the unsuspecting underground. It’s very well thought out & full of substance with an attention to detail that never allows it to overstep the mark in regards to melodic extravagance & this is one of the main reasons that it appeals to me when so many melodeath-based releases do not. I’m surprised that we haven’t seen Disillusion go on to bigger & better things in the subsequent years however if this release ends up being the band’s crowning glory then they’ve achieved heights that most budding young prog-heads will never be in a position to boast about.

For fans of Opeth, At The Gates & In Mourning.

I hate reviewing albums like this. I hate when I have to talk harshly about an album that I can tell is good, and has received mountains of critical acclaim, and yet I cannot remember a single thing about it. Nothing about Back to Times of Splendor resonates with me beyond my initial impression of "wow, this is a progressive metal album alright!"

When I gave Disillusion's 2019 comeback album, The Liberation, a review, I critiqued the album for being far too long for its own sake, really bad production, and a really bad tendency to resort to a death metal tone that does not flatter the group well. With Back to Times of Splendor, the band prove to me that at least two of those criticisms were later additions. This album is produced much more favourably for a progressive death metal album and the death metal portions that hindered the bands most recent album are diminished in quantity. This helps with the production as well.

Unfortunately the compositions have not improved. I've seen this album compared to Toxicity by System of a Down, but SOAD knew how to write a hook and make it stick. Disillusion meanwhile, write a hook (a decent hook mind you), then they abort it half way through as if it is a different song entirely. The structural compositions are so disjointed, especially on its second half with songs like "Back to Times of Splendor" and  "The Sleep of Restless Hours". As for the overall sound, I hear less SOAD and more Arch Enemy during the heavier portions. On its own, this isn't a bad thing, but Arch Enemy songs are shorter and more focused with a melodic idea rather than progressive wankery. This album just feels like noise that goes in one ear and out the other. 

I mean nothing within Back to Times of Splendor is outright infuriating or grossly offensive. But this record (and Disillusion's entire discography for that matter) has left me with almost nothing to talk about. Even as I write this, I still cannot remember what a single tack on this record sounds like. If I wanted progressive metal from the mid 2000s with a melodic death tinge, and the occasional folk/oriental flare, I would rather stick with Orphaned Land or Enslaved.