Dichotic - The Deepest Rise (2008)

Got this one in a trade.  Groovy, mid-paced thrash.  The vocals are that aggro style I hate, though they're slightly less-forced than other examples that come to mind.  In fairness, I will admit I found this a bit more palatable than say, your typical bunch of Pantera wannabes, but really, at that level, there's no great accomplishment in being less worse.  It's like rating which band member I'd most like to casually socialize with--I'd certainly pick the bassist (who looks a bit like Tom G. Warrior if he enjoyed methamphetamines and wearing bandanas) over the fat black vocalist, but when it comes right down to it, neither seem like great shakes as company.

The end of the CD actually had some nice--but all too brief--deviations from the band's normal sound.  "Delivery of Peace" starts out with a Middle Eastern flavored intro, and the final title track begins with a bass-heavy, progressive-ish intro that builds into what are the best riffs on the album.  Of course, right before the vocals kick in on both songs, they promptly go back to groove mode. When I initially looked this up before my trade I noticed most of the online comments and reviews mentioned some sort of classic metal element.  Either these reviewers' idea of "classic metal" is stuff from 1994-1996 or these were shill reviews, but there's really nothing like that present.  There are a couple instances of interesting dual guitar work or solos--it would be interesting to see the band (minus the vocalist) play in a more traditional metal setting, but there's unfortunately none of that here.