Disease Within - reviews

Being a band in Maryland is a tough act to sell, especially when you’re metal. However, Disease Within gives not metal, but the Maryland music scene a swift kick in the ass with their CD “Killing Time!” They’re very unapologetic about what they have to say, and cover all sorts of topics ranging from Church sex scandals, hypocrisy from high profile elitists, to political correctness in society today. The sound of the music brings a lot of integrity ranging in many influences from Pantera, Nirvana, Crowbar, to Tool! The vocals also have a diverse range, which is a cross between Kirk Windstein of Crowbar, and Geoff Tate of Queensryche. The opening track on this CD aptly titled “Disease Within” opens up with a commentary track that really sets the tone for the entire album. It discusses who we are as a society, and the disease within. Some key tracks to check out are “Killing time” “Modern Diversity” and “Call to War” which interestingly enough was inspired by the orcs in Lord of the Rings reminding us how we jump too quickly into war, with very little rhyme or reason to why we do it! I recommend you check out Disease Within. If you’re a fan of metal or not, their hooks lure you in and have you sticking your fists up high! 4 out of 5 stars, Mike Rocha
“Maryland: a State known in the extreme music field mostly for being the homeland of legendary Annapolis's Dying Fetus. From today on things will be different. Add to your list of bands contributing to amplify and renew the boundaries of Metal the moniker of this 3-piece from Mt. Airy… a special blend of Punk/Metal, Sludge Doom, Metalcore, Alternative Rock, Post-metal, Jazz and occasional injections of British flavor is what you have to expect from such a record. The manifesto of the opening title track is further explained in the next tracks and one must say the lyrics are worth the purchase themselves… imagine but believe me, it is real: put Metallica, Mars Volta, Cathedral and Fugazi into a blender and you'll get "Hollow"; amazing, ain't it? Genial? Of course! Are Disease Within excellent arrangers? You can bet on that, because no-one ever made sinister sounds with gentle acoustic guitars coexist so damn fine!...The alienated and lunatic vocals are something you cannot forget easily…the good will and the valid ideas need to be prized, so investing a part of your spare time in this platter is strongly advised. Certainly no listener can feel bored or find cheesy arrangements, nor patterns heard millions of times elsewhere before. In a nutshell, we are dealing with a penetrating and stimulating record… we require such bands to progress, otherwise we'd only repeat the past and let Metal die”
DISEASE WITHIN - "Killing Time" "Disease Within is a Maryland band of experienced musicians…The power trio titled as Disease Within is a kind of a band with many musical textures, their music is typically powerful and aggressive, that flow into many different musical directions, specially combining elements and styles such as Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Prog Metal, Alternative Rock and Post-metal. This powerful trio plays a powerful music, with unrelenting vibration, guitar, bass and drums always are in a perfect combination with some agressive vocals, including irreverent lyrics. If you like bands as "Tool", "Opeth", "System of Down", "Black Sabbath", "Heaven & Hell", "The Deftones", "Nirvana", "Helmet" and "Corrosion of Conformity" you must definitely listen to Disease Within. "Killing Time" was recorded in 2008, including eleven tracks, all lyrical themes are developed through the madness within society, religion, war, and mankind… A special and particular attention to and my favourite songs are: "Deception of the Masses", "Call to War", "Dark Moment", "Killing Time", "Modern Diversity" and "Hollow". The musicians on this band are: Mic Wynne - Lead Vocals and Guitars, Marc Kopyc - Drums and Samples and Cody Hagins - Bass Guitar. Highly recommendable for people who likes powerful metal music..." (Comments by Carlos Vaz) http://www.progressiverockbr.com/previews2009.htm
"Two other engineers have dropped in over the last couple days and everybody is pretty knocked out by your stuff. I've heard comparisons to Tool, Pantera, Nirvana, even Helmet...all of which are very cool." This was a very flattering commment and we are very thankful and humbled by it... He then followed with this when they got done with the CD "Anyway, I also want to say I really hear a lot of music, and your stuff is so honest I'm glad to have worked on it. More artists should be creating work that has meaning and passion as the main ingredients." OK this is over the top, very cool...we can't thank them enough for their work or these kind words. A very small subset of West West Side's Credits: Sufjan Stevens, Nile, Brand New, Animal Collective, Fleetwood Mac, Mastodon, Everytime I Die, Clutch, Ben Folds Five, Converge, Galaxy 500, Beirut, Midlake, !!!, Shadows Fall, The Promise Ring, Against Me!, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura, Dalek, Yes, Fallout Boy, Hole, Thrice, Ted Leo, The Rapture, Superjoint Ritual, Hatebreed, Fat Boy Slim, Run DMC, The Misfits, Hot Water Music, Sick of It All, Black Dice, The Wrens, Les Savy Fav, My Morning Jacket, Cave In, Buzzcocks, LCD Sound System, Atreyu, Rupert Holmes, Panda Bear, From Autumn To Ashes, The Dismemberment Plan, Luke Temple, Snapcase, Martin Denny, Trans-Am, H2O, Hot Rod circuit, The Chemical Brothers, Luna, Monster Magnet, Rye Coalition, The Slackers, Glen Burtnik, Radio 4, Burning Airlines, Kramer, Alakaline Trio, Jets to Brazil, Her Space Holiday, My Brightest Diamond, Girls Against Boys, A Static Lullaby, Maritime, Danielson, Dave LaRue, Def Jux, Oneida, Burning Brides, Cap'n Jazz, Jackie Gleason, The Liars, Train, Paul Schwartz, Saves The Day, Pete Townsend, Maya Angelou, Low, Human League, Mice Parade, Sworn Enemy, Damon & Naomi, Burnt by The Sun, Gym Class Heroes, David Berkeley, Comeback Kid, Grand Master Flash, Strike Anywhere, DJ Soul Slinger, David Shire, Killswitch Engage, Kool And The Gang, Locust, Youth of Today, Between the Buried and Me, God Forbid, Smoothe Da Hustler, Pedro the Lion, Symphony X, Bad Brains, Earth Crisis, Channels, Olivia Tremor Control, Bayside, Twilight Sad, Murphy's Law, Oakley Hall, Lifetime, Unearth... Listed below are some Soundtrack albums and Boxsets: Misfits (box set), Being John Malkovich (soundtrack album), Southside Johnny (box set), Galaxie 500 (box set), The Conversation (soundtrack) The Taking of Pelham 123 (soundtrack), Bongwater (box set), Last Stand at Saber River (soundtrack) Monkey Shine (soundtrack), Duke Nukem (sony playstation) Grand Turismo 2 (sony playstaion), James Chance (box set), Orange Juice (box set)
"I was sent a promo pack from for "Disease Within's" CD "Killing Time" and this is the way all bands should do things. Great package with CD, Photo, Bio, Lyrics and reviews. More bands should present themselves like this. The CD itself is one of the more interesting releases I have heard recently as it really doesn't fit into any specific genre of rock. It is a mixture of Grunge, Punk, Doom and Metal but isn't derivative at all. The CD opens with a nice little spoken word intro having a dig at modern day fads and trends. There is even a cool little dig at the Youtube video culture which is something I am surprised more bands don't comment on more often...The music twists and turns at a constant rate... The music is Doomish but this ain't no Doom band, this is a band that uses a certain Punk energy mixed with a smorgasbord of influences...vocal arrangements that can go from "Tool" like to "Bowieish" like melody's. Lyrics touch on religious themes, violence and cultural subjects that all of us that don't fit into the mainstream have a hard time dealing with. Overall I feel this band has got a lot of potential and a bright future in front of them. Just what market they will fit into is hard to say but if you want to hear something different then maybe you might want to check them out. Out on Deadly Sin Records. 8/10"
Sociopolitical screamings look at American society, song by song Originally published July 10, 2009 By Lauren LaRocca News-Post Staff Mic Wynne spent years trying to do what he accidentally did in a few months: form a band. Well, more specifically, a good band. That's not to say his punk and hardcore and heavy metal days were all in vain -- more like fodder. Both with backgrounds in jazz and classical music, Wynne and longtime friend Mark Kopyc formed Disease Within and their punk roots bleed through the intricate rhythms and odd jazz chords with pulsing social consciousness. "I never saw music as just a beat," Wynne said. "Music is an art form. ... When I go to a gallery for paintings, everyone stands around trying to interpret ... this is what I saw music as doing, too." Wynne, living in Mount Airy , grew up listening to rock and started learning guitar by the time he was 8. After a decade break from performing in various bands, to focus on marriage, family and a job, he was surprised to learned his friend, fellow engineer Kopyc, used to play bass. They figured they'd get together, maybe even write a couple songs, but what developed was an LP -- in a matter of a few months. "It was kind of strange karma, if you will," Wynne said. "It was definitely meant to be. It's a bad analogy, but it was kind of like love at first sight. The chemistry was just good. He came to me with two very, very punk songs, and out of that flowed very different music." Disease Within -- Wynne on lead vocals and guitar and Mark Kopyc on vocals, drums and samples -- combined their roots with extensive formal training for an experimental sound that is both lyrically insightful and musically taut, not to mention complex on both fronts. Next up: gigs. They hired Frederick -based Cody Hagins as their bassist so Kopyc could play drums live (he played bass for recordings), and shot up to New York to play the Nikstock festival of 4,000 -- their first show as Disease Within. "It's the worst possible thing," Wynne said. "I'd like to play for 20 people first. We're going right into the lion's den." Shortly after that, they played Rock the Ink in Providence, R.I., with an estimated 25,000 people. They're fitting in other shows as they can and calling it "Day Job Tour," Wynne joked. Their album, meanwhile, "Killing Time," was released in May. An official CD release show will be held at Krug's Place tonight beginning at 9 p.m. The album will be available at the concert and is available now through iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby and other digital outlets. The album might sound depressing after a glance down the list of titles -- "Abuse," "Dark Moment," "Unholy War," "Hollow" -- but Wynne stressed that the recording isn't meant to be negative but to reflect the current state of society. In short, it's addressed to Americans, meant to wake them up to specific issues, meant to make them think. "The way we follow and worship things, the whole video game generation," Wynne said, shaking his head, "it just makes you wonder, where is our core sense of self?" The album goes all over the place lyrically but each song is another echo of its initial cry to reveal diseases within modern society: high-profile people on ad campaigns urging people to fight causes when in reality (i.e., after research by Wynne), their plea was for image or tax evasion; the ability of humans to endure and survive, though scarred ("It is also very real, happens all the time, and no one likes to talk about it."); a gifted person succumbing to addiction; hateful religious groups; charismatic leaders -- like Hitler; modern teens and their lack of respect -- Disease Within covers all the bases. "Art, in general, is a medium to get people to think and feel things," Wynne said. "'Oh girl, she's cute' (lyrics) -- I try to get over that. I think art is supposed to incorporate a little more thought. ... There was never a thought to be negative, just a thought to make it a higher order art form where you remembered more than a simple hook or beat."
"We've been listening to the material and we think you have an intresting sound and a lot of integrity...it's a pretty wide range between the songs but I find that refreshing. I get a little bit 'My Dying Bride' vibe from time to time and that's a good sign"!
"I fiiiinnnnaaaallly listened to it last night and was much impressed. I think you're on to something there. It sounds not derivatave at all. This new stuff sounds very well put together and didn't remind me of anything I'd heard before. So on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it an 8, your going to Hollywood!"
"I listened to your tunes and they sound bad ass."
"...your stuff has a lot of System of a Down, or Corrosion of Conformity feel. I really like it."
"Your stuff reminds me of the band Prong. Remember them? I was a big fan and now I am a big fan of yours!"
"The album Killing Time is an irreverent, thought-provoking look at the madness within society, religion, war, and mankind. Nothing is sacred.... The band recalls a lot of different sounds and vibes, though this writer hears strong Voivod, Fudge Tunnel, and Prong influences, in addition to any number of other bands/styles. That is to say it is veritably hard to pigeonhole Disease Within. There is an undeniable punk edge and massive DIY energy... Lyrically this album is a sort of sociopolitical treatise on what ails America. Musically there is a lot going on throughout the album...