Artist: Dew-Scented
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: 7/12/05
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Title: Issue VI Artist: Dew-Scented Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 7/12/05 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
Dew Scented are one of those bands that continue to fall through the cracks for two reasons. First and most important: They don't have much of a unique sound, instead they sound like an amalgam of metal bands from the past and present. And secondly: They have the stupidest name in all of metal. Hell, if it weren't for Spandau Ballet they might have the stupidest name in all of musicdom.
"One word review: Familiar." Of course, bad name aside, there's very little to criticize here other than the fact that they're not all that original. They've got a cool mixture of 80s meets modern thrash, via Kreator, Slayer, and The Haunted. Where they get things right is the riffs, which have a great guitar sound, and while they aren't always all that memorable, they are always satisfactory. The vocals lose me a little bit, not because they're all that bad, but because they're so fucking clichéd. You know, they're just a rehash of the At The Gates style that every band in metalcore, melodic death metal, and emo have all latched onto. If the riffs were just a little more engaging it would be enough to overlook the vocals, but as it stands they just camouflage the band even more amongst the backdrop of all of those other bands that make up the middle tier.
While I'll refrain from outright endorsing this record, this band does seem to be going in the right direction. Their sound hasn't changed much from the way I remember it, but they are becoming slightly more interesting, and they do exhibit a great deal of potential. These guys have to find themselves and set themselves apart from the pack that is getting more and more crowded (as well as more and more anemic). Fun to listen to, easy to forget. One word review: Familiar.
Death's Review:
Germany's Dew-Scented play old-school sounding, death metal tinged, technical thrash metal. Fans of all of the following bands: Arch Enemy, Edge of Sanity, Overkill, Bloodbath, Kreator, Vader, Morbid Angel, Destruction, Sodom, and Cannibal Corpse, are bound to love these thrash metal maniacs too. But you've gotta love the thrash, death and the traditional heavy metal sounds. The music is a bit more modern than those comparisons may make it seem, but the raw production definitely adds to the old-school feel. Of course, the neck-snapping speed alone will inspire serious bouts of headbanging and this kind of stuff would obviously go over well at the outdoor German summer festivals such as Wacken Open Air. But this is not the first band that comes to mind for anything really. Dew-Scented really are just another solid entry into the metal wars, not really stand-out, but certainly not really worthy of serious critical disparagement either. They do what they do, and they do it reasonably well. I'm not sure this is what you need to plunk down your money for if your only access to music is buying a couple of CDs a month, but if you're a collector of everything decent then you'll want this in your collection.
"They do what they do, and they do it reasonably well." (By the way, props to the Nuclear Blast promo team for a well-written bio and a some fun yellow-colored inserts that purport to be some sort of Surgeon General's warning about Dew-Scented's propensity to induce adrenaline addiction, as well as an advertisement for some sort of adrenaline junkie's hotline or support group or something. Anyway, slightly corny, but they caught my attention.)
Hel's Review:
Dew-Scented have returned with Issue VI their (can you guess?) sixth studio release. I'd given the last couple a cursory listen, but never delved deeply into the realm of Dew-Scented. I found it amusing to note that a search of the band name at MJ turned up a post on the board regarding a drink Gray had invented and named after the band because he was listening to them at the time. But my tidbits of Dew-Scented knowledge are now exhausted.
"Dew-Scented is, absolutely, a band you need to know about." So I can safely say I come into this album not expecting a darn thing. My first listen was reminiscent of the brief times I had heard the band previously - an initial "hey, this is pretty cool" followed by a complete lack of recall once the record ended. Which explains why I never went back to them before. In an effort to combat this effect, I proceeded to listen to the album incessantly, trying to force it to stay in my brain. Of course now I'm totally sick of it.
But despite the fact I have listened to it countless times at this point, this disc does still retain the ability to make me stop and listen. The production on the recording is clear and the performances are worthy of it. The songs are good, catchy without being annoyingly so, and it all adds up to an enjoyable effort. Dew-Scented is, absolutely, a band you need to know about. And Issue VI is a strong statement that makes it clear they are intent on domination. More power to them.
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