''Disintegration Effect'' is the third studio album by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Lo-Pro Lo-Pro is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey after the disbandment of their previous band, Ultraspank, in 2001. After attracting the attention of Aaron Lewis of Staind, the band signed to a major record label, ...

. It was released on May 14, 2013. The album was a departure from the prior two Lo-Pro albums, while half of the album retained the band's usual melodic

sound, half contained more screamed vocals more reminiscent of members Pete Murray and

Neil Godfrey Lo-Pro is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey after the disbandment of their previous band, Ultraspank, in 2001. After attracting the attention of Aaron Lewis of Staind, the band signed to a major record label, ...

's prior band,

Ultraspank Ultraspank was an American metal band from Santa Barbara, California, United States. They released two albums, a self-titled album in 1998, and a follow-up, ''Progress'', in 2000. The band disbanded shortly after the release of ''Progress'' in 20 ...

Background

After releasing two

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

albums as members of

, vocalist Pete Murray and guitarist

formed a new band,

, in 2002. The band released their debut album, which featured a more mainstream,

sound, ''

'', on

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, but were dropped from their contract due to poor album sales. The band would spend seven years writing, recording, and re-recording a follow up, ''

The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge ''The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge'' is the second full-album by Lo-Pro, originally scheduled to be released was May 25, 2010, but was delayed to June 8, 2010, and focused on a more raw sound, with Murray feeling the original release was overproduced due to record label pressure.Fredrickson, Mark:
Pete Murray of LO-PRO
''Ink19.com.'' February 2008. After its release, the band changed directions and decided to release an acoustic album, although, as recording progressed, the music took more of an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

sound as well, resulting in a sound so different from past albums that the band opted to release it under a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Life On Planet 9 Lo-Pro is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Pete Murray and Neil Godfrey after the disbandment of their previous band, Ultraspank, in 2001. After attracting the attention of Aaron Lewis of Staind, the band signed to a major record label, ...

, on their album '' Bittersweet'' in 2011. By 2012, Murray announced that the band would be returning to work under the "Lo-Pro" name again on a third studio album. However, unlike prior albums, where many songs were premiered months and even years before the album's release, Murray stated that the new album would be another shift in directions, and as such, they would not be releasing music much beforehand".

Writing and recording

Writing sessions first began upon the band being asked if they would hypothetically be open to the prospect of writing a soundtrack for a "

post apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

cyborg type movie". The band, unfamiliar with working under the confine of a soundtrack or

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

mentality, decided to write a few songs and see how they felt about it. While the band would ultimately not do the soundtrack, the band would continue to use tracks from the session, "Soulless", "Wasteland", "Obedience", and "We Are The Ones" for ''Disintegration Effect'', and similar themes throughout the rest of the album's recording process. The band continued to record throughout 2012, although Murray later admitted that progress was slowed due to band members working on other projects, including concurrently working on a second Life On Planet 9 album, and contributing a few tracks to the ''Battlefield of the Mind Soundtrack'', the latter being a collaborative music project featuring band members of

Staind Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and dr ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

, and

Evanescence Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer and musician Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording independent EPs as a duo in the late 90's, and a demo CD, Evanescence released their debut s ...

. While initially aiming for an early 2013 release, the album would be pushed back as Murray wrapped up contributing vocals to a few tracks for the ''Battfield of the Mind'' soundtrack, including the tracks "No Words", "Tear It Down", and "Not Like You". Additionally, Murray and Godfrey would help perform some of the soundtrack live on April 24, 2013. The album was entirely self-produced, with Murray even handling the album's

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and mixing.

Themes and composition

Spurring from the initial writing sessions where the band was contemplating the idea of providing a soundtrack for a post apocalyptic film, much of the album's lyrical content centers around the dependence of technology in the modern world. Murray had been influenced by his surroundings, stated he felt "...fascinated and horrified by our addiction to technology...Next time you’re in a restaurant, look around at how many husband and wives, boyfriends/girlfriends or friends are on their phones looking at

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

instead of enjoying each other’s company. That’s just the tip of the iceberg." The sentiment lead to more negative overtones, with fears that current trends could actually lead to that fictional "apocalyptic" scenario. Murray stated that the album could be epitomized by the lyrics "Freedom is dead" from the track "Obedience", which he stated"...is about defeat. The humans have lost the war and are now slaves to the machines." Sonically, Murray stated that the band hadn't especially intended on making "their heaviest album yet", but that it just happened naturally with the subject matter. The album featured heavy, downtuned

distorted guitar Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

s, electronic noises, and screamed vocals, more reminiscent of Ultraspank's sound, especially ''

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...

'', than past Lo-Pro releases. Murray eventually felt that longtime fans of his and Godfrey would enjoy the prospect of a throwback to their Ultraspank days.

Release

Just prior to the concert, Murray announced that the album's title would be ''Disintegration Effect'', and that it would be released on May 14, 2013. The announcement was coupled with a brief, 20 second preview of the album, containing clips from the tracks "Give Me Life" and "Obedience". The opening track, "Give Me Life", was made available on the ''Battlefield of the Mind'' soundtrack a month prior to the release of ''Disintegration Effect''. The band streamed the track "Soulless" a day prior to the album's release.

Track listing

Reception and sales

''AmpKicker'' gave the album a 9.5 of 10 album, praising the album's concept and sound, stating "It comes with a message and the power to open your eyes to how our society is destroying itself. Murray is at his peak and screams the hell out of this album. The thickness of Godfrey’s guitar surrounds you and makes those speakers shake, and the drums are like a stampede through your eardrums. Belgium print magazine ''Rock Tribune'' gave the album a positive review as well, awarding it an 8.5 out of 10 rating. Murray stated that the album charted to no. 94 on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

charts on its release day, and that the band had already sold out of physical copies on the album's first day alone.

Personnel

* Pete Murray -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, programming, mixing, mastering *Neil Godfrey -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Pete Ricci - guitar *Jerry Oliviera - bass *

Tommy Stewart Tommy Stewart is an American drummer, currently for the rock band Lo-Pro. He is probably best known for his stint with the band Godsmack. He has also toured and recorded with a number of other bands including Detroit based metal band Halloween, ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Lo-Pro albums