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The year was 2001. Nu-metal was the dominant form of rock music. Bands like Papa Roach, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Limp Bizkit, Drowning Pool and many other bands reigned supreme. Their videos gained a substantial amount of airplay on MTV/MTV2 and many of these bands sold albums that went either gold or platinum.
From 2001 to 2003, major record labels attempted to cash in on this nu-metal craze by signing huge new crops of nu-metal bands and proceeded to not promote them at all. Some of these bands were good, some were decent and others brought nothing new to the nu-metal fandom. Albums from bands like Switched, No One, and others proved to bore most listeners to tears. However, some of these new bands showed some promise with strong albums and by bringing new elements to the table.
Dry Kill Logic was one of these commercially under-used bands that showed more creativity and way more aggression than its nu-metal brethren. The band signed to Roadrunner Records in 2001 and began recording their debut. Like many bands in this era, they were under promoted and ignored by the mainstream, perhaps due to their aggressive sound, which blended hardcore influences into the traditional nu-metal sound. The result was brilliant, it was ultra-aggressive music with a frontman who sounded like he was on the edge. If they had gotten the right promotion, the band would have easily been generating underground buzz like its Roadrunner label mates, Slipknot and gone on to do great things.
Their 2nd album, "The Dead and Dreaming" was released in fall 2004 and proved to be a HUGE step up from their first album, "The Darker Side of Nonsense" (which was definitely a great album by its own). This album shows much more growth from the band, advancing on their hardcore nu-metal style and experimenting with some lighter, acoustic songs. While many previous nu-metal bands went in a traditional rock direction after nu-metal fell out of the mainstream (like Papa Roach, Drowning Pool, Mudvayne and others), Dry Kill Logic went in the opposite direction; playing blistering heavy metal.
The album kicks off with the pummeling song "Lost". This is just the kind of song that will make you want to start a mosh pit in your living room. After hearing the first opening riff, you know Dry Kill Logic is back and more pissed off then ever. Hearing the vocalist Cliff Rigano scream "LOOOOOOOSSSTTTTT!!!!" in the first opening seconds could easily bring out the sub-conscious, evil aggression in a newborn kitten.
The next track Paper Tiger, shows Cliff trying his hand at clean vocals during the chorus, which he handles masterfully. In fact, during this song (and many others on the album), he pulls off what I like to call the "Jekyll and Hyde" vocals. Meaning he goes from screaming his lungs out like a lunatic during some points in the song and then goes back to clean singing at other parts. He demonstrates this way of singing in other songs like "Neither Here nor Missed" and "With Deepest Regrets..."
Songs like "200 Years", "Perfect Enemy", and "One Handed Knife Fight" display some rather thrashy riffs as well as breakdowns. These are awesome signs of growth from the band. "200 Years" even has a guitar solo in it.
The album closes with an acoustic song by the name of "No Reason", a strange juxtaposition to the heaviness of the rest of the album, but it's not a bad song at all. We get to hear more of Cliff's clean vocals at their best in this song.
In short, this is one of the more exciting and unique metal CD's to be released but unfortunately, it was just as ignored as their first album. Like Memento, this band has a little bit of something anyone can enjoy, in a metal sense for this review. Cliff's insane hardcore vocals (which sometimes border death grunts), energetic guitar work that always keeps the listener interested, and fantastic drum work from Phil Arcuri all make this an extremely enjoyable release. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done and then some. Go out and pick it up (as well as "The Darker Side of Nonsense") if you want a band that's filled to the brim with aggression.
-Joe
