Ignorance is Bliss has all the elements fans around the world have come to know and love from the band, but it also illuminates a higher level of songwriting.
While this record unquestionably sounds good and has some cool-sounding guitar riffs, there isn’t really anything here that sticks after a couple of listens.
The screaming’s urgent, the music’s complex and involved, the playing’s refreshingly unpredictable but still powerful. Eyelid pulls out some intense emotions.
Engine idles too closely to Alder’s prog rock background, and when they get “dark and heavy,” they sound like heavy-for-heavy’s-sake riffs Filter woulda tossed.
Dave Smalley’s been around, sung for bands you oughtta know, has a master’s degree in political science, and he wants to tell us about the state of the world.
With healthy doses of funk, soul, passionate ballads, and driving rock (often with three-ways raps), Dispatch is a band to catch live and blast at parties until the cops show up.
Die My Will isn’t far behind with their Coalesce/semi-Cannibal Corpse grind. They’ve even got distorted bass on some of the tracks! Now that’s quality grind.
Demolition Doll Rods are a drag – literally and figuratively – even with the estimable talents of a tarted-up Dan Krona as a major part of the equation.
They know enough to keep things simple. Evolution, containing half new tracks and half remixes, is more like their first album, but worth checking out.