A certain peculiar thing has taken over several metal bands all over the world, Finland included. This thing is the mishmashing of numerous genres into a melting pot that makes genre-definition almost impossible. Disease Of The Nation is just such a group. As the group proclaims on its web page, they take “influences from pop music to black metal and from traditional heavy to grindcore and hardcore”. The band itself humorously calls the appropriate genre “problem metal“. But do not be fooled, we aren't talking about a complete free-for-all here like, for example, with Between The Buried And Me. To me, there is definite method in this madness.

DotN is a very young band in itself but all the players in it have years of experience from both demo and recording acts. This is very apparent from the tightness of their playing as a unit. Isolation is their first demo and the sound quality is very good for this stage. Almost everything is in balance; only during slight occasions the bass drum gets buried during the most manic tempos. Oh, I would have liked just slightly more bass in the mix, but that’s just quite often me.

The song material is, as mentioned, very varied. The speedy opener Total Control is my favourite track from the bunch with a furious pace and catchy guitar riffage to blast the thing into high gears. The slower and more melodic, steamrolling part in the middle emphasises the speed nicely. Singer/guitarist Mikko Knuutila has an impressively wide range, although in some areas he has a lot more work to do then in others. The occasional death grunts are powerful and the more frequent throaty, black metallish screams are not just insane, but quite enjoyable. The clean vocals are the weakest point at this stage, as they could use several handfuls of power and confidence.

My Favourite Emotional State starts off nicely with some tremoloed riffs and blast beats which lead into some nice thrash beats and off-beat fills. Drummer Arto Vesander, who has also showed his monstrous capabilities in Chaos Creation and Devilhorn among others, is at his most impressive on this track. The short jazzy interlude is a nice touch. As a whole the song has both high and low points, the most so-and-so one here. The title track aims for a much more moody, doomy and melancholic feeling but the song feels like a tractor caught in quicksand and unable to go anywhere. Like said, Knuutila’s clean vocals need some hefty strengthening to deliver these kinds of atmospheric songs with more conviction. But the music on the track itself is quite uninteresting as well, save for the interesting use of feedback and guitar noises.

Fortunately Give Me Your Name closes the disc on a high note. Some guitar melodies backed by what sounds like a glockenspiel bring a King Diamond-vibe, although the song itself has very little to do with the master of thematic NWOBHM-driven metal. Heavier, churning parts are mixed with a great solo, hardcorish sections and more tortured screaming. Works for me!

All in all, Isolation shows some definite potential on many fronts. The playing side is definitely ready and once the singer gets the cleans working alongside the harsher styles, We’ve got one of the most capable voice-abusers of the Finnish scene right here. Depending on the listener, their song material is highly versatile or unfocused, but there possibilities are just about limitless. Keep your eyes and ears opened for this one.

Full songs in full force from MySpace