The Nameless Disease

Whereas some bands adopt terrifying-like monikers such as Defecation, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse or even Anthrax to name them but a few, some bands come up with some strange monikers that don't mean anything but bring some wisdom to the metal world. French based band The Old Dead Tree is one among them. If you close your eyes and think about an old dead tree, then you probably have in mind the same picture as me. An ancient wise oak lying on the floor in an ancient forest such as Fangorn…. The Old Dead Tree has just released it's first full length album The Nameless Disease after releasing The Blossom a four pieces auto production released in 1999. French based label Season Of Mist had great flair when they signed this four piece band because this first album sounds really mature. The Nameless Disease is yet another metal release that is impossible to categorize within any of todays numerous metal categories although their label defines them as gothic metal, which might be quite a fair description in my eyes, but their gothic metal is far away from the Finnish or Dutch gothic metal. Whereas typical Finnish gothic bands such as Charon, Entwine or To Die For are somewhat depressive bands, The Old Dead Tree manages to play their energetic gothic metal on the edge of several other metal trends such as death metal and doom metal. One thing that stands out on this release is that these guys refuse to stay within given boundaries. Their music shows a lot of variety and vararions in tempo and style. I particularly like the brilliant opener We Cry As One and the following trio of songs It Can’t Be, How Could You, Won’t Follow Him, but the best song is without any doubt, It’s The Same For Everyone. I really enjoy their contrast between hard and soft musical elements and it’s done with style. The vocals of Manuel Munoz are either very clear or deathy when the music becomes more energetic. To promote this album the band will embark on a European tour together with Katatonia. If Peaceville and Katatonia have chosen The Old Dead Tree as the opening act of their Viva Emptiness European tour, then believe me it’s because the band has a very large potential. A band definitely to follow closely and I urge you to get a listen as soon as possible because they just released a metal album that is bound to draw them a great deal of attention.