Review:

on 2011-04-20 CharlesMartel Said:

I came to this album without any preconceptions as to what to expect. I had downloaded a few tracks to check out and on that basis it seemed worthy of a purchase. I was surprised to find it listed as metal on the Gracenote categorisation (something I usually pay no attention to normally, but this time it caught my eye). Metal is, however, the last thing that this could be described as. It is hardly straightforward indie rock either. In fact, it does not really seem to fit into any genre and yet has elements which could allow to be placed in quite a few. To add to the confusion, I could swear I have heard the voice of Gavin Hayes before. I haven't but there is something about it which sounds very familiar.

Musically speaking, this is a strange mixture of various tempos constructed and joined within the space of individual songs. A lot of clever, shimmering guitar work is used and underpinning it all is some pretty solid drumming, very necessary otherwise this would have a tendency to fall apart. When you put all this together you get the impression that the bass is there to fill the spaces left behind by the other instruments and the voice. Now all this may sound strange, but the end is result is hardly strange and hardly likely to present you with something which steps outside the norm.

The songs are solid pieces of work which rarely rise above a standard which can best be described as easy - this is not music which is going to challenge you or take you out of your comfort zone. Perhaps the closest to doing so is "Zebraskin" which sounds as if the band have decided to experiment with a bit of jazz-fusion to pass the time. It is easily the most laid-back song on the entire album.

The highlights of the album lie elsewhere. "Jamais Vu" creates an atmosphere which is unique on this album - heavy on the bass while the guitar and voice seem to jockey for position within the overall framework. "Sang Real" has a much more powerful beat to it and brings in a piano scale which has the effect of creating a solid face to the song, upon which all the other elements hang together. "Matroshka (The Ornament)" is an attempt at creating an epic vibe which does not quite come off in the way I suspect the band would have wished. However, the stand out track is "Bug Eyes" which makes some excellent use of slide guitars and has probably the best lyric on the entire album.

However, putting those tracks aside, there is a fair amount of sameness about the rest of the album. The title track is a catchy number which somehow fails to take off. Indeed, most of the second half of the album is pretty much stuff which is all in the same vein and struggles to stand out or make a lasting impression. That is not to say that the songs are poor, or that after listening to the first half dozen songs, you can safely save yourself some time and skip the rest. It is just that the overall effect is to settle the album down to something you can listen to without having to think or participate as a listener should do.

The question is whether anyone who is coming to Dredg for the first time should start here. I would have to say, probably not. I am not sure if this is a representative sample of their work, but there is not enough on this album to make it stand out and grab the listener's attention. That is not to say it is a bad album, but it doesn't seem to be able to put enough clear water between itself and other albums competing for the same space to make it stand out on its own merits.
Rating: 6/10