Diecast
““Day of Reckoning””
(Now or Never Records)
Heavy post-thrash loudness. Crank the crush because its loud aggression with Diecast. Mostly driven through with shredding guitars that take the old thrash riffs and slap them around until they get even more pissed. Singer Colin has a not too offensive scraping yell, but more impressive is his occasional foray into a smoother yell that actually pushes a lot of depth into the otherwise straight ahead bark and rip metal. This is most memorably utilized in the intro of, “Singled Out” which has a short vocal only start that sets up the last word in roar of a scream setting the song into full speed. Great pull and jerk backing vocals that punch the guitar accents even more clearly. A faster, slightly meaner Hatebreed can be felt in a lot of this. Consistently this album sets what might be typical riffage into something more listenable with the many challenging tempo stutters. Diecast prove one can take the metal ideal and mold it enough to offer something worth listening to (which is becoming a rare accomplishment as regurgitation is the norm lately). The drum production gets a bit on the clipped side, which is a shame because anytime one singles out the drum track, Diecast boast an undeniable talent behind the skins. Along with the mandatory double bass pummels, the drummer kicks down fills and breakdowns that are inhumanly quick and tight. The first track, “Disrepair” will illustrate the sheer dominating power of the Diecast percussions. Not quite as grindy an inaudible to approach a death metal tag, Diecast is heavier with a more crushing groove than your Pantera/Metallica ideas of thrash guitar. Their name is fitting, as the take metal and remold it into their own package.
