The world of Dilates modern brand of metal
is all black chrome and gunmetal gray, a place
where iron-forged roaring fury is only
occasionally offset by what passes for peace and
quiet here – the kind of creepy, paranoid calm
the prey experiences just before the predator
explodes from the bushes … and it always
does.
Statement to the World is the
hard-hitting product of four dudes that love
heavy f***ing metal and pour every ounce of
themselves into showing it. Dilate reflect (but
dont copy) influences like Corrosion of
Conformity and Pantera, piling on the riffage
while riding the knife edge between tunefulness
and raw aggression. Slow builds lead to
inevitable, powerful blowups throughout the
album, while guitars march, swoop and attack
incessantly. The title track features a
pneumatically pounding riff before heading into a
thundering breakdown that sounds like a giants
footsteps; impassioned, melodic vocals give way
to raging, barely human howls as the tune
progresses.
Act of Desperation begins with an eerily
low-key figure (think Tool) before it bursts open
with humming and buzzing guitars that wouldnt
sound out of place on an early Smashing Pumpkins
record – that is, if maybe Clutch had hijacked
the session. Relentlessly pounding drums
highlight this album-opening track. Separate My
Life establishes a hectic pace with impressive
guitar work from start to finish, including a
Deftones-esque bridge and a brief but memorable
solo that notches up the intensity of an already
crackling tune. The schizophrenic Truth be Told
might nearly pass for an Incubus tune until
Dilates irrepressible cumulative rage pushes it
into overdrive.
The album features the production talents of Tim
Bushong, who achieves the same sonic heft and
clarity hes known for on other Smash Alley
releases. The mix is clean but dense,
complementing the bands sound well.
A prime cut from Statement to the World
is Nothings Left, which opens with an
interesting kind of clanking robo-blues.
Predictably, the door is soon blown off its
hinges by the air coming off the speakers as the
song escalates; then suddenly a lucid and serene
midsection lulls you into leaning in to hear it
more closely. Sucker. The bomb drops (again) and
you spend the remainder of the song picking your
ears out of the back wall. Mind you, this is a
good thing.
Catch Dilate in round two of the whatzup
Battle of the Bands at Columbia Street on July
27, and be sure to check out dilatearmy.com and
smashalleyrecords.com.