Artist: Disengage
Album: Application For An Afterlife
Label: Fractured Transmitter
Tracks: 14
Reviewed By: Chaz

I wasn't around for start of rock music in the 1950's. I wasn't around for Woodstock and the progression of rock in the 1960's. I wasn't around for the experimental explosion or the punk rock offshot in the 1970's. I WAS around for hair metal and heavy metal and the resurrection of punk rock and the birth of grunge in the 1980's and early 90's. I stayed home from school the day after Kurt Cobain was found dead. I was terribly upset and I kind of knew, at the age of 13, that rock music was dead. I don't believe it's just me that thinks that rock died on that day. What has rock done since that point? There have been a few gasps for air here and there but overall it's just dead. Punk rock, for the most part, is underground. Everything is under control of the clear channel radio stations and MTV. I haven't heard a straight up rock band in years that have taken my ear drums by storm. I haven't heard a rock band in years with a message or even sounded remotely dangerous. Until today....

Disengage comes from, of all places, Cleveland, Ohio. They play a style of rock that would be a mix of Tool and Snapcase. They are very political so if you are not a fan of political rock, run far away but they also have songs about relationships and life and such. There really isn't much to say about this album except that it's solid. It's one of the best rock albums I've heard in years. The only thing that might take this album down a notch is the recording quality but the thing that takes it up again is the art work by one of the favorite artists, Derek Hess. It's dark and dangerous and everything a great rock album should be.