Desillusion

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Desillusion - Poison

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The following is an article printed in the Exotic Underground by Roland:
It’s very, very rare to find an electronic band that sounds good both on CD and live. Nine times out of ten they either fall apart onstage or they can’t get their sound to work in recordings. This reviewer has been a fan of such music for a very long time but became disillusioned long ago with ever finding a band that could pull off live acts and CDs. The last I remember, and this was close to ten years ago now, was a Connecticut act called Miss Lonelyhearts that developed a decent cult following. Sadly, after an enforced name change and drummer difficulties, they broke up.
Enter Desillusion. These boys are good, plain and simple, and they reminded me a lot of that lost band of lore. At first I was wary, as their name conjured up images of generic death metal. It was actually quite the contrary: Desillusion is a skilled blend of industrial and heavy metal. Their influences are clear, with strong overtones of early Nine Inch Nails (before Trent sucked), Stabbing Westward (before they vanished into the ether), and even a touch of early Marilyn Manson (before they started to suck, too). Anyone who likes any of those groups should enjoy Desillusion. Like many electronic bands, this group has a small lineup: Westin Halvorson on guitar, keyboard, and programming; Ben Garner on bass guitar; and Galen Wahling on drums. Westin also handles lead vocals, with Ben and Galen supporting. The three work together perfectly, crafting strong melodies over deep bass lines. Thankfully, Desillusion doesn’t overly rely on samples. Too many so-called “industrial” bands have fallen into that trap, becoming little more than freestyle groups with emo vocals. Westin, Ben, and Galen all definitely pull their own weight musically. Live, they’re absolute powerhouses. A very good percentage of the Central’s regulars and staff kept their heads bobbing and toes tapping, and a few brave souls even headed up to the front of the house to dance—a very rare event at that bar. As a quick side note, I’m very happy that the Central is expanding their musical lineup to include more than just metal and punk. Though I am a card-carrying metalhead and always will be, too much of one type of music leads to stagnation and cynicism. Kudos to everyone involved in setting up and performing that night. Part of the fun of Desillusion’s live show is their lighting setup. Westin and Ben each stand on a box filled with black lights, strobes, and other gear guaranteed to send epileptics into drooling fits. The overall effect is very cool, especially with fog machines and lasers blasting along in time with the tunes. After the show I talked with the band, and they told me that they normally have even more equipment. Unfortunately, the stage at the Central just wasn’t big enough to fit everything. If that was just a sample, I can’t wait to see them again on a larger stage—the effect must be incredible. Speaking of tunes, the boys were kind enough to grant me a copy of their self-released CD (Songs for the Silent) and a quickly ripped disc of several new songs they’ve come up with since. Like any selfmade album, there are some balance and production glitches, but the quality of the music shines right through these minor problems. Desillusion is obviously still growing as a band; at some points during the album I could hear clear experimentation with tones, sampling, and even progressive-style beat changes. The four-song “supplementary” CD they gave me showed some signs of improvement (mind you, not that much is needed) as they continue to mature as a group. As for the songs themselves, the actual album contains twelve tracks. My personal favorite is the quirky second tune, “Ex-Spiral-Mental.” I can’t say that I actually disliked anything on the CD, though I did find that the sort-of-title track (“Songs of Silence”) didn’t carry the same “oomph” one would expect from an A-side. The rest of the songs vary between “decent” and “very, very good.” As noted, the four-tune CD-R they gave me has much more mature-sounding songs. “Web Fake” is good fun, though unfortunately named. My favorite was “Locked in Time,” with its obvious Manson and Stabbing Westward influences. The other two tracks, “We Run Blind” and “Figment,” also sound great. I cannot wait for Desillusion to expand this out into a full album, perhaps with re-engineered songs from their first effort. I do have to offer one piece of constructive criticism, though: despite their business card, I do not agree that Desillusion is in any way, shape, or form “trance” music. Sure, they are pretty mellow, but true trance is pretty much guaranteed to put you to sleep under the influence of pot. In this reviewer’s constant efforts to go that extra mile, I subjected a stoner friend of mine to Songs for the Silent. While she enjoyed it, the music in no way caused her to fall asleep. Oh, and I promised Ben to say nothing good about him in this piece, so here: “Nothing good about Ben.” You’re welcome, dude.