Spreading The Disease – Insurrection – Album Review

The UK’s Spreading The Disease are back to scatter their metal filth around the place and after Viral, their well received debut EP, made quite the splash at the beginning of last year, it’s now the turn of full length album Insurrection, to plague the masses and quicken the pulse of STD’s own legion of faithful maggots!

In a nutshell, Spreading The Disease are a snottier, punkier version of Slipknot; a solid, rampaging ball of tightly-wound aggression that growls, screams, shouts and sings over a set of anthems that unravel at a frantic pace. Amidst hyperactive drums, complex and compelling riffing and often ridiculously fast fretwork, Spreading The Disease go hell-for-leather for the majority of Insurrection, only taking a breather for the angst-ridden semi-ballad of “Can’t Let Go”.

It’s the rippers you’re here for though and as good as “Can’t Let Go” is, it doesn’t hold a candle to Insurrection‘s more blistering moments. Rife with social commentary throughout, “Brexit Wounds” focuses on that particular, all too topical, subject via a bouncy, shout-fest of nu-metal-isms while “Method To My Madness” is a fists-up, mosh-pit monster, all bruising melodies and confrontational lyrics. “Save Me” is the neck-stomping highlight though, a staccato smack in the face which incorporates guttural vocals and anglicised Corey Taylor-esque bellows to whiplash the listener into submission…..and you will submit!

Nu-metal and groove metal are the focal points here – with the work of Corey Taylor and the rest of Slipnot’s masked lunatics providing the majority of inspiration – but STD are definitively and defiantly British, unleashing a gutter-level, street-smart version of the kind of noise us Brits usually expect to emerge from across the Atlantic….which is a relatively pleasant surprise in itself! Its been a while since we’ve had a no-nonsense wrecking ball of a band capable of penning songs with the potential to break out of the underground and Spreading The Disease are that band. It’s no coincidence that with their video for “Greed” already hitting the airwaves via Scuzz, it looks like STD could also have a ‘hit’ on their hands!

Insurrection is a marked improvement on Viral and STD’s huge potential is clear to hear.

This disease is going viral!  8/10