Raunchy – A Discord Electric
When I think of the word “raunchy”, usually the first thing that comes to mind is something filthy, dirty, lewd or vile. Well the Danes with the filthy, dirty, lewd or vile name are back and set to release their fifth studio album titled A Discord Electric. Having been a fan of the band since 2001′s Velvet Noise, I have seen the band sharpen their musical teeth over the past nine years. Effectively mixing the “Gothenburg sound” with winding electronics, danceable beats and pop sensibilities, Raunchy have always held a special place in my heart; but will this time be any different?
“Dim The Lights and Run” opens A Discord Electric in a eyebrow raising fashion. Like I said before, Raunchy have consistently been able to interlace pop stylings into their bottom heavy sound; and this track is no different, but still, something feels a little off . Keyboardist/vocalist Jeppe Christensen’s clean vox are precise and on point, but they are just that…very, very clean. With the light axe work, bouncing electronics and high end vocals, it comes off sounding more like something you would hear at a rave rather than a metal show. Once the track does kick in, it gives way to crunchy guitars and big melodies but goes absolutely nowhere. This makes the song feel more like a five and a half minute intro rather than an actual stand alone track.
One key thing that has always grabbed me about this band is their ability to mix such unique styles to near perfection. Tracks like “Nght Prty”, “Tiger Crown”, “The Great Depression” and “Ire Vampire” all offer a glimpse into the world that is Raunchy. “Nght Prty” is reminiscent of something off Death Pop Romance with drummer Morten Toft Hansen’s stomping beats, Jesper Tilsted and Lars Christensen’s razor sharp guitar work and Kasper Thomsen’s throat tearing vocals. If The Haunted did electronic-fueled metal, then “Tiger Crown” is what it would sound like. This track is totally ruthless until you get to the choruses where Christensen really opens it up with his own brand of super hook. If Confusion Bay and Wasteland Discotheque was more in your wheelhouse, then “The Great Depression” will be right up your alley. The song features a killer groove that is laced with keyboards, awesome vocal work and impeccable drumming. “Ire Vampire” is another one of those tracks that has The Haunted’s fingerprint all over it. Immediately you are blasted with blistering six strings and Toft Hansen’s mind melting blast beats. The one complaint I have is that the vocals tend to get buried in the mix during the choruses. Other than that, this is Raunchy at their leanest and their best.
Even with a number of good songs, A Discord Electric has plenty of pitfalls as well. Those drawbacks include “Street Emperor”, “Blueprints For Lost Sounds”, “Shake Your Grave” and “Big Truth” among others. Both “Street Emperor” and “Blueprints For Lost Sounds” incorporate a southern swagger (from super grooves to harmonica—yes I said harmonica) to them, just done in Raunchy’s distinctive style. While this sounded enticing at first, it felt forced and not quite fleshed out. “Shake Your Grave” starts out well enough but falls flat once the choruses hit. The Rush-esque keyboards sound odd, clunky and completely out of place. Plus, there is a part near the end of the song where it sounds like Christensen does his best (insert singer’s name here) boy band impression. While it may not sound “bad”, it does give you that “What the hell was that?” feeling. Now we have come to THE WORST track Raunchy have ever recorded and it’s disastrous name is “Big Truth.” This song hemorrhages euro synth-pop from start to finish and feels entirely out of place on the album. The only thing that’s missing is a video full of malls, balloons, bubblegum and brace-face teenagers. “Big Truth” is absolutely horrid and should have been trashed before ever recording it.
Unlike their previous efforts, I found myself totally disconnected from this record. Raunchy have always had that knack for creating those hooks that pulled you in and never let go. Unfortunately, A Discord Electric has those moments but they are much farther apart than I had ever hoped for.
About The Writer
.jpg){kind=avatar}
Share This Post
Buy The Album
Band Links
33 Comments
August 4th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Listening to "Big Truth"…DANCE PARTY EVERYBODY! Who's bringing the disco ball?
[Reply to this comment]
Azriel replied:
August 5th, 2010 at 2:40 am
"Big Truth" sounds like it could be a Pokemon theme someday…
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Yea no kidding…LOL! Every single time it comes on, I get chills….and NOT in a good way. Ha Ha!
[Reply to this comment]
Azriel replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
The thing is "Big Truth" is a bad Raunchy song, but it would make for a great Trapt song.
Nothing against Trapt though, I saw them in April of 09' and they were miles ahead of my expectations. It was my first "club" venue show and it was just a killer experience.
[Reply to this comment]
August 4th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
nah, still looking forward to the album. Raunchy never disappoints me. and I'm liking what I'm hearing from the samples, even Big Truth. I don't mind poppiness in my metal. Still really stoked for this album. October seems so far away though (in the U.S. anyways).
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 4th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
That's cool Otac55, I hope that it's something that you can really dig your teeth into and enjoy. I dont' mind pop in my metal either, but certain parts of A Discord Electric are ridiculous. LOL! Having been a huge fan of the band, I was really let down with the overall songwriting on this one.
Oh well, what can you do. I will still support the band no matter what.
[Reply to this comment]
August 5th, 2010 at 4:59 am
Solid review Lee. Judging from the samples, I couldn't agree more.
[Reply to this comment]
August 5th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Totally have to check this out for fun. Pop/metal? Yes, please.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 7:39 am
Thanks you both you and Luke…
[Reply to this comment]
August 5th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I dislike the band name. I like the samples though, nice to hear something different every once in a while!
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Agreed, check it out…just about any album is worth a listen. You never know, you might disagree with me and really dig it.
Thanks Brad
[Reply to this comment]
August 6th, 2010 at 1:34 am
I love Raunchy they are one of my absolute favorite bands, but the samples above make me nervous. "Big Truth" has to be the worst song Raunchy has ever done….where's the metal??
Oh well, after 4 solid albums an experimental album is acceptable I suppose. Still going to pick this up. Nice review. Big Thumbs up, sounds pretty dead on.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 7:26 am
Thanks Arson714 I really appreciate the kind words.
Yea dude, "big Truth" is um….yea LOL! Since they were one of your favorite band's, I'd give this one a spin anyway. You never know, you might find a few tracks that you really like.
Thanks again,
[Reply to this comment]
August 6th, 2010 at 4:24 am
I'm saddened to hear your opinion, but this is still my most anticipated album. Though I'm now more hesitant, the boys do deserve a system purge and I look forward to learning what they are playing at. 12 Songs on the album ties their most ever, and the 1st song being 5:30, combined with everything else I've heard, it seems their biggest album. For me: the more the better, regardless if "Big Truth" is one's 5/5 or not.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 7:37 am
Charles, what’s up?
That is cool that you’re looking forward to it that much. Believe me, as a fan of this band…so was I. But, when I review an album I have to be honest and open minded about it as well. I found this album lacked the hooks and overall songwriting found in the other efforts.
As far as "bigger is better"
If that is the way you think then that's totally cool. I guess I look at it this way when it comes to something like that. I can get the biggest hamburger in the world, but if it tastes like a horse’s ass what good is it? I mean it's the biggest…so that means it's the best, right? LOL! Just a goofy analogy….ha ha ha!
Do yourself a favor and listen to the record in its entirety first before giving out a mental score. Because once you do that, anything less than a five will be a complete letdown.
Thanks man and have a good one
[Reply to this comment]
Charles replied:
August 6th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Hey Lee, I forgot to say thanks for a detailed review: I am just so truly thankful for more Raunchy that I'll personally be cool with some tracks that don't connect. Thanks for the welcome, I'll have to look around the rest of this website sometime. The boys have always seemed so LEGIT to me that I'm interested to hear how everything strikes me in a larger context.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 7th, 2010 at 7:34 am
Absolutely Charlie my pleasure. Having been a fan since Velvet Noise, I'm totally with you on Raunchy being legit. This album unfortunately just didn't do as much for me as I'd hoped.
Definitely take a look around, I am more than sure that you will find things that you can sink your teeth into.
By the way….WELCOME!
[Reply to this comment]
August 7th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
My review is more or less the same. Your last comment about the farther apart hooks sums it up nicely. They ended up commenting my review and I felt awful haha.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 7th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Hey Gein,
Man, don't feel awful at all. If you’re honest in how you feel, then that is all that matters. Don't sweat it about them commenting. Bands who are professionals learn to take the good with the bad…it's just the nature of the business.
Thanks for the kind words about the review as well.
[Reply to this comment]
August 8th, 2010 at 9:24 am
I'm checking up on these guys' old stuff, and it's mind-blowingly awesome! I'm a big fan of metal with keyboard/electronica, à la Still Remains.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 8th, 2010 at 9:46 am
ABSOLUTELY check out their older stuff, it’s FANTASTIC! If you are into keyboards and metal…check out Celldweller. Founder Klay Scott was the mastermind of the industrial outfit Brainchild/Circle Of Dust. Co-founder Daren Diolosa broke off and did a band called KLANK and Klay went on to do Circle Of Dust by himself, then worked with Criss Angel and now doing Celldweller. It’s more commercialized than the older stuff but still freaking awesome!
Check it out, you may dig it as much as I do…
[Reply to this comment]
Gabriel Pio replied:
August 11th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
I'm digging Celldweller's "Wish Upon A Black Star" series. The sound is awesome, and it's refreshing to hear something different. Screams are awesome, but I sometimes miss scream-less music that catches my interest.
I haven't had the time to check out KLANK yet, but Celldweller more than catched my fancy. =)
[Reply to this comment]
August 10th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
Ever since I read this review I've been checking up on this band's older material and I'm really starting to dig it. They are like a disco version of another band I've recently been getting into called Sybreed. And the Gothenburg influence doesn't hurt at all either. I can definitely hear some In Flames in Raunchy's music, for sure. It's just really fun metal music, for a change.
Good review, Lee!
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 11th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Nitrohippie……what ….is…..up!
Thanks for the kind words, first and foremost.
Very cool that you're checking out their older stuff. Even though I couldn't get into this record as much, their previous albums are totally rockin'. Death Pop Romance is still my favorite by far though. By the way, we reviewed Sybreed's latest on here earlier last year…in case you wanted to check it out. lol!
Thanks again…
[Reply to this comment]
August 12th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I'd have to say Confusion Bay was the Master of Puppets album for Raunchy…its still their masterpiece. Death Pop was ok..but had the keyboard guy singing instead of the singer on the cleans. I miss the old singer's cleans compared with the new guy and the keyboardist. I miss Michael from Mnemic too..hahaha. It's hard for a band to stay on top when you lose a big piece of it…such as the voice of the band.
-
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
August 12th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Hey blackgumball whats up,
Yea I’m with you, I miss Micheal from Mnemic as well. But I do have to say that Mnemics last album Sons Of The System was really good. Bideau has really come a long way since Passenger that's for sure. Dear lord that album was atrocious. LOL!
Have you heard Smaxone? Bøgballe's is in that band doing the screaming vocals. They are a bit different, but still kinda cool.
Thanks and welcome
[Reply to this comment]
August 13th, 2010 at 7:24 am
So I just listened to "Shake Your Grave". I have to say I dig the majority of the song. The clean vocals took a while to grow on me, but now I can say I fully enjoy the song. The clean vocals just seem off at first as it seems like during production they cranked those to the max and drowned out the guitars (which is a theme throughout the album I'm guessing). Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts.
[Reply to this comment]
October 23rd, 2010 at 3:11 am
Good review Lee but I gotta say I disagree completely with your score. This album is at the very least a 4. I fuckin loved this record man. They've taken everything I loved from Wasteland and kicked it up several notches. This album is heavy, melodious, epic and catchy as hell. Hell, I like it so much that "The Big Truth" didn't bother me at all.
[Reply to this comment]
Lee replied:
October 23rd, 2010 at 8:00 am
That's cool bro, no worries. I liked everything up to this album, I just didn't care for this one very much.
[Reply to this comment]
November 6th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
I've gotta say that I disagree- With Raunchy's earlier work, I haven't been hugely grabbed- i've enjoyed it, but the mix of pop and metal hasn't done it for me, i've only really enjoyed the metal side. However, with A Discord Electric, it's just… better, and where previously I couldn't wait for their next kick-ass metal song like Somewhere Along The Road, with this record, i'm enjoying the whole thing, and that's what I look for in an album.
[Reply to this comment]
March 12th, 2011 at 12:41 am
Love this CD…5/5…great production…great riffs…catchy choruses…awesome!
[Reply to this comment]
Nicholas Misiak replied:
March 12th, 2011 at 3:31 am
I agree Ill. I still listen to this CD like crazy. Probably more-so than alot of the hundreds of other albums I purchased last year. It really has everything I want in an alternative metal album. It is definately a grower though, but I'm glad I kept spinning it!
[Reply to this comment]
September 20th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Big Truth is one of the poppiest songs I have heard and I absolutely love it. I am weird.
[Reply to this comment]