Saturday, January 10, 2026

Dryline - Reach for the Surface (2006)

 
Cost: $2.00

Let's not pretend this is going to be some surprise gem. Taking the bandname, aesthetic, sepia-toned cover, and year of release into account, this isn't a question of whether the CD is any good, it's a question of just how bad it is. 

My initial prejudices softened a little during the first track, because their music does lean way farther into the melodeath-influenced side of metalcore than I would have assumed. Unfortunately, there's still a fair amount of hardcore influence in the music and its breakdowns, and later songs incorporate emo-ish clean vocalled sections so they can incorporate the good ol' harsh/clean contrast dynamic. It seems especially silly of them to even bother when the acoustic interlude "Needless to Say" is easily the most emotive thing on the album. The main vocals aren't super aggro in their delivery, but not great either and feel very dry.

Due to the melodic DM edge in the guitarwork, this is marginally better than the bands I assume are the main influences here (think of the bands that incorporate the word "dies" or "dying" into a 3-or-4 word band name), but they still feel derivative enough where pointing out hypothetical highlights if they tweaked their sound a bit seems pointless. Yeah, they clearly sit on the more metal side of the fence, but enough elements from the more commercial side of metalcore are included here to keep this a few steps away from better bands doing more overt Gothenburg-inspired music. 

Would have felt better paying 50¢ for this. Some songs are tolerable, and for its genre, it doesn't quite scrape the bottom of the barrel.

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