[THE FLYING LUGAW] ALBUM REVIEW: Dalisay — Ang Trahedya ng Dalisay at Ketungin
The odyssey that is ‘Ang Trahedya ng Dalisay at Ketungin’ is a portal to the fully realized, dilapidated world of Jetro R. Soler. It is a world we are all too familiar with; one so stark in its depiction, we can’t look away from it.
‘Ang Trahedya ng Dalisay at Ketungin’ is a seven-track album by old school death metal trio ‘Dalisay’, comprised of guitarist and frontman Jorel Torres, bassist Mark Gilbert Saguibo, and drummer Jux Mauricio.
The band’s history runs deep, having had numerous lineup changes over the years, with Torres being the last of Dalisay’s founding members still active within the group. And after the many years spent that went into songwriting and experimentation with different minds, ‘Ang Trahedya’ is the culmination of the Dalisay frontman’s creative ambitions for the band.
Fortunately, the end-product does not disappoint, at least in the ears of this longtime metalhead. And that may ultimately be the case as well for other death metal fans, especially those who have a penchant for the genre’s sound in the ’80s and ’90s. Thrash and black metal fans, there is no need to feel estranged. Non-metalheads are especially welcome, too, as ‘Ang Trahedya’ offers a good starting point to the genre for anyone wanting to give it a try.
The album is packed with the gut-punching riffs, blazing solos, and explosive blast beats the genre is known for. But for anyone who wants a good entry point to the genre, ‘Ang Trahedya’ features a solid mix and a narrative that is compelling enough to grab one’s attention. For starters, ‘Karnal’ is a solid track; amazing performances from each of the members, and to boot, a Tony Iommi-inspired guitar work — from its bluesy tone to its deliberately melodic riff.
Torres, apart from being the band’s frontman, songwriter, and guitarist, has also fulfilled other literary roles in the making of this album — that of an author, a narrator, and possibly even a character in the story.
As a frontman of a death metal band, Torres steals the show with his vocal delivery alone. His dissonant and expressive screams of anguish are a perfect fit to the torturing odyssey that is ‘Ang Trahedya’. As the narrator, Torres’ emphatic performance on the mic — poetic to an extent — is one that would certainly make a lasting impression.
Torres’ storytelling prowess is apparent throughout the album but is on full display in ‘Botod’, the title track, and ‘Ang Libing na Naipundar ni Jetro R Soler’.
‘Botod’ is as welcoming as it gets for the pace the music sets the album on and for Torres’ range as a writer. The track is a direct reference to the story of Fray Botod by famous La Solidaridad propagandist Graciano Lopez Jaena, drawing comparisons to the ‘Botods’ of past and present (See more: Fray Botod).
Then, there is my personal favorite, ‘Ang Libing na Naipundar ni Jetro R Soler’. Who is Jetro R. Soler, you ask? Interestingly enough, I found that the name Jetro R. Soler is just an anagram for Torres’ name. But that doesn’t really answer the question. Soler’s character, or rather Torres’ self-inserted involvement in his own story, is a rather vague one given the appearances he had in his song and in the closing track, the latter of which his character was only alluded to by the narrator.
Though most songs in the albums are self-contained with their respective plots, maintaining a uniform theme around which the album is centered and through which Torres expresses his dismay and anger at oppressors and traitors, the instance wherein ‘Ang Trahedya’ mishandles this double-edged sword — when the class analysis comes off as insensitive and condescending rather than grim and honest — is the main issue of this album and a concerning one at that.
The song I’m referring to above is ‘Hamog’, which is basically poverty porn for the poor execution of its caricature. I do understand the nature and intent of the song, and I am all for the violence and starkness of Torres’ inscribed reality. But for how strong a tool it is to expose the audience to unpleasant themes in an attempt to incite a provocative message, it is still a tool that can be misused and directed to those who do not deserve the kind of representation that Hamog’s subjects were subjected to as an expense, especially for an album that supposedly aims to combat injustices through thought-provoking art. The song could have benefitted from having a different tone and/or resolution altogether, one that is not defeatist and indicative of the batang hamog being stripped of all their humanity while maintaining Torres’ vision akin to a Greek tragedy. If anything, it would make ‘Hamog’ stand out, and given the mastery Dalisay’s frontman has shown of their craft, I trust it would have been an easy task for them. The poor are not the enemy, no matter which lens you look at them through.
One may argue that other tracks like ‘Ang Libing na Naipundar ni Jetro R Soler’ commit the same crime as ‘Hamog’, but I think the former did a much better job at pointing the gun in the right direction, not to mention it is also the most well-structured song out of the entire project. I’d say ‘Karnal’, for how much I love the track for its insane melodies, is closer to crossing that line.
It is important to remember that ‘Ang Trahedya’ is a death metal album, and artistic violence — whether emotive or thematic — is the sine qua non to the genre; it is meant to be unsettling like how horror as a genre is meant to be unsettling. For that, Dalisay did a phenomenal job with ‘Ang Trahedya’.
However, there are some boundaries that bands tend to cross from time to time, especially those in the metal genre who have a penchant for in-your-face deliveries and punishing narratives, and with ‘Hamog’, it makes Dalisay no exception to the rule. These, too, are worth pointing out if we want to truly know our enemy.
Originally published at http://theflyinglugawph.wordpress.com on November 6, 2021.
