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I don't know just how many bands that
were, and still are, inspired by four blokes from Stoke-upon-Blighty.
Hell, even Scott Ian of Anthrax-'fame' ran around on stage like a
demented Basil Fawlty on speed decked out in a Discharge-shirt. Total
anglo-mania. There are many Dis-disciples around the world, and Sweden
is famous for its Dis-scene. But the Swedish sound is much faster,
rawer, harder and decidedly heavier than the original version. The
Swedes are no replicas, they hold their own.
One such band was Anti-Bofors, emerging in 1989 from the suburbs of
Nyköping. Anti-Bofors released a seven inch on their own label No
Records, then found a new vocalist and wisely changed their name to
Disfear. In October 1992 the band recorded their eponymous debut-EP in
Sunlight Studios under the guidance of famed Entombed-producer Tomas
Skogsberg. Encouraged by the overwhelming response, Disfear went back
to Sunlight and cut the classic MCD 'A Brutal Sight Of War', released
in August 1993. This time, the crust crowd was enthralled! 'A
Brutal...' recieved rave reviews in Kerrang! (4/5 and 5/5 in the
German edition) and was voted 1993 top hardcore album in Rock Hard,
the German bible of earsplitting music. All this media hubble-bubble
was followed by a tour in Germany with Swedish pals Uncurbed. Disfear
got several offers from bigger labels, but the boys somehow lost the
inspiration, did an unexpected U-turn and split up! Fortunately, this
was only a minor case of confusion, because in late 1994 the band got
together again, this time with Jallo Lehto (No Security/Totalitär) on
drums.
In April 1995 Disfear returned to Sunlight to record their full length
debut 'Soul Scars', released on Distortion in May 1995. The album got
top reviews and to promote the release, Disfear toured Sweden with a
couple of similar bands. The gigs went down a storm and were a perfect
warm-up for the forthcoming UK-tour with English legends Doom as
special guests. Back in Sweden, more gigs were waiting, but with a
different bill than before. Breach, Raised Fist, Monster and Legal
Weapon (US) were all quite brutal (well, except Monster...) but not at
all like Disfear. The cunning idea was to introduce the band to a
wider audience. It was during these gigs Jallo Lehto realized that
drumming wasn't really his thing anymore so he quit the band. Disfear
replaced him with Robin Wiberg who joined the guys for a massive
headline-tour of Europe. The summer of 1995 sure was busy. In June
Disfear appeared at the huge festival in Hultsfred, Sweden. This was
an important gig and the place was packed to maximum capacity. Disfear
also headlined a couple of other festivals in Sweden followed by a
second trek through Europe. The band did both festivals and clubs with
among others punk stalwarts G.B.H (UK) and metalized speed freaks
D.R.I. (US). After the tour Disfear left Distortion and signed a deal
with French label Osmose Productions.
Before the recording of 'Everyday Slaughter', the first album for
Osmose, a Scandinavian-tour with legendary punks G.B.H was completed.
'Everyday Slaughter' was released in October 1997, followed by a
smaller tour in Sweden with permanently drunk labelmates Gehennah
before yet another Euro-tour with top-deathsters Dismember. Back in
Sweden more shows with Gehennah were waiting. In March 1998 longtime
vocalist Jeppe decided to leave the band. His replacement was none
other than ex-At The Gates vocalist Tomas 'Tompa' Lindberg, one of the
best screamers ever and a stunning performer on stage. With this new
and re-vitalized line-up, more shows and festivals in Sweden and
Europe were done.
But a new vocalist was not the only thing that changed. The band also
recruited new drummer Marcus Andersson, with founding fathers Björn
Pettersson (guitar) and Henke Frykman (bass) completing the line-up.
At this point Disfear left Osmose, but unfortunately the foursome
ended up in the dreadful territory known as Record Label Limbo. This
turned out to be quite a lenghty and not exactly planned vacation.
Holiday in the sun? More like a holiday in Cambodia! Well, contract or
no contract, Disfear kept on writing new songs waiting for things to
work out. At this point they also have got themselves a second guitar
player, Uffe Cederlund (ex Entombed). You can listen to some Disfear songs
here and
here |

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Anti-Bofors - 7'' |

Disfear - 7'' |
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A Brutal Sight Of War - Mcd/10 |

Soul Scars - LP/CD
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Everyday Slaughter - LP/CD |

Powerload - 7''
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Misanthropic Generation - LP/CD |

Split w/ Zeke - 7''

Live The Storm - CD 2007 |
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