Album Review: Dead Shape Figure – The Disease Of St Vitus

Every so often an unheralded band comes along that restores your faith in the future of metal. That’s exactly the kind of album ‘The Disease Of St Vitus’ is.

Think of this Finnish fivesome as a mix between Testament and The Crown –  the awesome thrash riffs of the former with the brash delivery of the latter. But to be honest, such comparisons don’t do Dead Shape Figure real justice, because they have an amazing vitality that is truly their own.

The five-minute opener ‘Suicide Continental’ alone has more bluster, swagger, riffs and tempo than many of today’s bands manage in an entire album. By the time you reach the groovy bruiser that is the last track, ‘Cities Of The Pain’, you’ll already be exhausted from the multiple eargasms along the way, thanks to tracks like ‘Amberstar’ and ‘Idiopolis’.

There are melodic influences incorporated along the way, and you will hear singing on tracks like ‘Face On The Nails’, but the focus is very much on the cookie monster vocal delivery. Nor do these occasional clean bits take away from the intensity of the album. This is no Killswitch Engage, believe us.

On the whole, this is an extremely impressive album. You might not have heard of these guys before, but ‘The Disease Of St Vitus’ is easily one of the best albums we have heard this year, and one of the most vital thrash album we’ve heard in a very long time. Go out and get this album, you will not be disappointed.

Rating – 9