The scream on 1996 Element was enough for me to realize that Vision Of Disorder is a band who is ‘neither here or there’. Their presence on New York’s hardcore scene allowed them to collect extra points, but they were rarely a hardcore band. Alternative metal at the end of the 90s went in different directions, and Vision of Disorder took a left with their albumImprint. How much they swear in Black Sabbath showed brutally good album From Bliss To Devastation from 2001. After that one – goodbye. Tim Williams gave his vocal to the similar band Bloodsimple and their two albums were lost in the nebula of new millennium. In 2012, it became clear again that this band has its place in the metal universe.
Even though Razed To The Ground does not fall far from the tree, it is a solid collection of alternative metal tunes. House in Chaos and Cut My Teeth might not have a powerful vocal, but guitars make me want to cut my skin. Tiresome singing in atmospheric pieces Electric Sky and Red on the Walls reminded me of System of A Down and Layne Staley. Here and there, Vision of Disorder succeed to input metalcore, but fail to sound progressive. Certainly, the album is full of fillers.
I applaud to them for not releasing unplugged concerts. There are no biblical shakings here, but when you recognize a band after 20 seconds of listening to their new album – that’s it!
