By The Dawn Of The Dead Age, their third demo, Finnish maniacs Disease Of The Nation had already solidified their hodgepodge-style of several different styles and were able to refine it very audibly in ways that result in catchier tunes and oodles of hooks. The punky death metallic hardcore ethnic pop grinding becomes that much better when one can really feel the method behind the madness. On the technical side, the guitars rip and churn, the rhythm section drives the beats in like a tire iron to the liver and the slick production job is there to accumulate the damage.

Leaders Of Greed opens the pack and amidst the rocking thrash-riffs, brutal shrieks and quirky humming one can instantly recognize that the band’s voice, Mige, has developed his clean vocals to a much more commendable level near to his great shouts and squeals. More can be surely done with time but for the first time in the band’s history, I don’t single it out as the one thing that glares through as inferior to the other great things. It melds right into the melodic guitar leads and oddball horn samples that sound most like tubas. Master Of Stupidity ups the ante with a grooving beginning that transitions first into a fist-pumping hardcore-drive, then a gasp-like silent interlude before the grinding blasts and subsequent “marching drums meet The Godfather-mandolin”-section precedes a headbanging ending. I realize how little it seems to make sense on paper but it sounds so damn good.

Success And Wealth starts off with some great riffage but ends up being the one track overshadowed by the rest of the material. It has a real sweet jump-around groove with double kick drums here and there but I think it’s just the chorus that doesn’t grab me. The following “ballad” Josef is really good stuff, especially when considering that the slower, atmospheric pieces have been the band’s Achilles' heel on previous demos. This baby’s almost downright…bluesy at times, for some reason reminding me of Guns ‘N’ Roses, just heavier. On second thought, it’s probably Alice In Chains I’m thinking of vibe-wise. Although the drunken slagoff-vocal tone used in the song feels like a straight-up tribute to Mike Patton’s singing style in Faith No More’s RV, which I can utterly appreciate.

As the final duo, Inefficient opens up with some simplistic samba percussions before the merciless squeals of Mige brings in the metallic assault of frantic headbanging goodness. Excellent singalong chorus in the tune too. Probably my favourite track off of the whole demo. Corrupted Cult finishes the disc with a furious mix of shout-driven hardcore and bouncing rock-parts that remind me of…Bloodhound Gang. I had to do a double take there but yeah, that’s who. Naturally to make it more interesting, the aforementioned parts are eventually faded out into an Arabian Nights-style blend of hand percussions and ethereal female vocals that lull the listener into waiting for more.

Overall, The Dawn Of The Dead Age presents Disease Of The Nation as pretty much a ripe band for the picking for a record company daring/crazy enough to sign them and bring them to a wider audience. On paper, it might not be too easy, but at this point, I seriously don’t see these guys needing another demo for honing their craft. Bring on a full-length, enjoyable warts and all!

Full songs in full force from MySpace