STD began in icy Canada as a side project of Dave from NEW DAY RISING. STD was a departure from the more melodic NDR. SPREAD THE DISEASE is pure, unrelenting blackened metalcore. Known for their violent live shows, STD quickly made a name for themselves here in the States and their native Canada. Their career spanned 2 full length CD's and 1 early seven inch. The band went on to more experimental means during the recording of their second full length ''The Sheer Force of Inertia.'' STD is perfect for fans of music as heavy as Converge,Deadguy, His Hero is Gone, and even fans of more beautiful metal like Neurosis and Cradle of Filth. Canada lost an amazing band when STD broke up in 1999.
Not to be confused with death/thrash band Spread the Disease from Regina, Saskatchewan.
The band formed in late 1996 as Karenza. After several line-up switches, the band changed name to Her Severed Head in December 1997, then again to Spread the Disease in February 1998. The band broke up in July 1999.
Lineup
Stu Brown - Bass (1998-1999, 1999) (ex-Her Severed Head, ex-Karenza, ex-Oklahoma Burning, ex-The Far Ours)
Shawn Butchart - Drums (1998-1999) (ex-Her Severed Head, ex-Karenza, ex-Simcoe Street Mob, ex-The Abandoned Hearts Club, ex-The Far Outs, ex-The Honey Spiders, ex-The Pettit Project, ex-Uncle Bad Touch)
Trevor Dykstra - Guitars (1998-1999) (Omen Astra, Pale Drone, ex-3's Company, ex-Bree, ex-Her Severed Head, ex-Karenza, ex-New Day Rising, ex-The Abandoned Hearts Club, ex-The Bog, ex-The Far Outs)
Dave Buschemeyer - Guitars (1998-1999) (Omen Astra, ex-Acrid, ex-Face Down, ex-Her Severed Head, ex-Karenza, ex-New Day Rising, ex-Omission, ex-Pigs Blood, ex-Raise Them and Eat Them, ex-Rug Burn, ex-Sun Still Burns, ex-Testicle Explosion, ex-The 73 El Camino, ex-The Abandoned Hearts Club, ex-The China White, ex-The Formless Form, ex-Unheard)
Ben Pobjoy - Vocals (1998-1999) (ex-Her Severed Head, ex-Karenza, ex-The Abandoned Hearts Club)
Release
This Blood Ridden Tragedy ' EP 1998
Let the Rivers Flow with the Blood of Those Who Oppose Us ' Split 1998
We Bleed from Many Wounds ' Full-length 1998
The Sheer Force of Inertia ' Full-length 1999
It is easy to forget how many ‘metal’ bands flooded the hardcore scene back in the late 90s. None of these bands had much long-term impact, but their overt metalness set the template for hybrids that continue to this day. I stopped following this sub-scene by about 2003, but I was participating when Spread the Disease released “We Bleed from Many Wounds". This is an interesting debut. The band emerged from other Canadian metallic hardcore acts like New Day Rising and Acrid, but Spread the Disease took everything a step further in terms of being 'metal'. This band were as metal as any hardcore-scene band ever got. I’m not convinced that there are any traces of hardcore here. There are a few chugs, but chugs appear in metal too. There are a few emotional screamy parts, but plenty of metal bands have also used those tricks.
That said, it is difficult to pin this record to any particular metal sub-genre. There are elements of black metal (including spooky keyboards), but doesn't sound like a black metal record. The song structures are somewhat akin to death metal, though it doesn’t sound much like death metal either. The vocals have that gravelly, raspy quality that sounds evil as hell. It reminds me most of bands like Unruh and other similar extreme hardcore bands. However, Spread the Disease had a different riffing style to those bands. There are few punk-based riffs here. Their riffs are much closer to Slayer than they are to bands like Union of Uranus (who must have also been an influence). The only thing that reveals Spread the Disease as belonging to the hardcore scene is the association with Eulogy Recordings. This label was run by John Wylie from Morning Again. There are some slight riffing similarities with Morning Again, but Spread the Disease sounded much more evil.
Musically, this is a poisonous record. There are demonic moments throughout. The keyboards sound a bit amateurish but never misplaced. Nothing is polished. There are a few missed beats and some timing errors. Most ‘metal’ bands would have tidied these idiosyncrasies up. Spread the Disease kept it raw. I like that. Some of the guitar harmonics are particularly nasty sounding (in a good way). Look deeper and you’ll hear the occasional Possessed riff, like in the middle of "Her Severed Head". There is plenty of Slayer-esque chugging and occasional use of tremolo picking. The breakdowns are hard, but never telegraphed. There are slight hints of the band's past in New Day Rising, such as the quiet part of “Ephemerae” or the soft opening of "Hymn for the Unheard". The latter develops into an overt black metal riff, which is perhaps the finest moment on the album.
This is a good record. It appealed to me when I was sick of typical extreme metal narratives back in 1998. Perhaps it has stood the test of time. Records like this operate in a limbo space nowadays, forgotten by the hardcore and metal scenes alike. The limbo of Spread the Disease is even deeper because they didn’t follow the metalcore trends of the time. They weren’t borrowing from Rorschach and Deadguy, they didn’t have those Slayer breakdowns, and they weren't doing the emerging ‘At the Gates-core’ sound either. “We Bleed from Many Wounds” is the sound of a local-level band playing hard, dark metal with some hardcore energy. This record is worth a couple of listens, particularly if you’re interested in where the idea of genres like 'deathcore' come from.
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