The Story of Pain and Glory is the debut EP of South Walian’s Death by Disco. The hard rock quintet have produced a very tight debut that is sure to open plenty of doors for them.
Opening track Die opens with a great drum and riff combo before showing off the vocal prowess of vocalist Liam O’Connor starting with some class growls before transitioning into some smooth, clean vocals (think Ben Bruce’s Not The American Average demo crossed with Kellin Quinn in Do It Now, Remember It Later) overlaying a steady beat before the riffs kick in.
Hold My Breath is a very catchy track that had me singing the chorus “put me on my knees and let me go, begging please just let me flee and cut my throat. I know that I will never be alone, I’m over the worst of it,” for the rest of the day.
Never Giving Up has a more poppy feel with the backing “woahs” and the lyrical content, however the beat and riffs remind you that it is indeed a rock song until the last eight when the growls come back in. A very good track, however, in comparison to the rest of the EP, personally I feel that this is that one weak link that all EP’s/albums seem to have, however it is undoubtedly going to be one of the more popular tracks.
Shadows is one of my favourite tracks both lyrically and musically. The riff in the middle eight is very impressive and lyrically this is the most relatable track on the EP.
Title track and EP closer The Story of Pain and Glory is one of the slower tracks, opening with a calming guitar solo. This is one of those lighters in the air tracks, even the riff fits in beautifully with the theme the track is producing which is something I didn’t think would be possible to be done well. Closing the track a beat change and transition to a growling outro provides the link to join this track into the EP.
The lyrics are well written and talk a lot about heartbreak and betrayal but not in the common ways most artists do, providing a welcome difference. A tight EP, that even after several listens, is hard to find flaws on because it is so easy to get lost in.