If you’re looking for a band that’s a bit different from the norm, then the Kung Fu heavy metal sound of Dyspläcer may be your perfect solution. The mysterious American band offers up tales of epic battles and forbidden techniques in an entertaining sound that delivers a firm Karate chop to the jaw.
Dyspläcer describe themselves as “a band of rebels who once dedicated their lives to learning ancient and forbidden Kung Fu techniques.” Having undertaken those learnings, the Kung Fu masters are now “focusing on channeling their life force into delivering the best heavy metal live experience that we can.” The band members grew up together and, being cast out of Temple Heights for using the Lightning Fury Fist, decided to channel their passion into heavy metal, exploring the adventures that Kung Fu has taken them on.
And on the sound they’ve crafted, they told us: “It’ll punch you right in the face. We like that old school sound with a twist. We have infused our chakras into the very essence of every song we have written. Very melodic, very catchy, very lethal.”
To give us a taste of this, the band sent us Lightning Fury Fist from their 2023 album Temple Heights. This epic seven-minute track starts out with light guitars and high-pitched vocals that gradually increase in intensity, before dropping into chugging guitars under a funky little lick. Stabbing guitars support engaging vocals as a piercing lick joins in, and a fun little guitar solo loops back into another energetic verse.
A second chorus ends with a cackle and spoken words over chugging guitar chords that feed into another cool guitar solo. Big guitars and drums support another passionate chorus, which gives way to yet another dual guitar solo, setting up the biggest solo yet and a cool outro.
On the track, the band told us: “We start a lot of our shows with that song because it highlights a lot of themes that we like to incorporate in our music: forbidden techniques, evil samurai, and guitarmonies.”
The album is packed with plenty more heavy metal goodness and delicious guitar lickery and riffery. That includes the excellent Way of the Ninja, Forgotten Victories and Kuma Kaiju, the eight-minute title track Temple Heights, a personal favourite Black Widow (The Dirge Of) – about an assassin, the wife of the Black Samurai of the shadow clan, who’s been sent to kill Dyspläcer but has only taken their hearts – and the epic final battle that is Dyspläcer vs. Dyspläcer.
The Dyspläcer sound has been influenced by the likes of Skull Fist, Enforcer, Striker, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Unleash The Archers. And on what inspires them to write music, they explained: “Most of our songs follow the Kung Fu adventures of Dyspläcer, but we also wrote the song Bloodsport after the movie of the same name. When inspiration strikes us, we have been known to crank out a killer track about some of the action movies that have been sticking in our heads lately.”
Dyspläcer can’t tell us too much about what they have coming up, but do reveal they’re hard at work cracking down on more nefarious activity. As they explain: “We have been hot on the trail of a massive conspiracy here in America. We have recently discovered a cult that is dedicated to finding a sword called The Golden Dragon that has the ability to mindslave anyone cut down by the wielder. We are sure this will make a fantastic nucleus for the second album.”
And they added: “Although we have the power and techniques to shatter mountains and melt faces, we are all very friendly guys! We love to put a face to every t-shirt or CD sale we make at our merch table, so come say hi after our set! Also, for promoters and bookers and venue operators, we are willing to travel for a show if it’s a killer one! We have come as far as the Shadow Realm to play for all of you, so what’s an extra handful of miles? Dyspläcer is ready to rumble!”
You can follow Dyspläcer on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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