the world has turned and left me here

el cielo

It's been a while since I've reviewed an album but I feel I must in the case of Dredg's El Cielo. There are other albums that I would review but they get enough coverage already. Not with Dredg, relatively few people know about these guys, but "El Cielo" is amazing in the alt world for at least one thing: there is no filler. Unlike this weblog dear reader, everything in this album contributes, and there are even instrumental breaks that let you rest once in a while so you're ready for the next tune. None of these tunes is *quiiitte* radio-ready, though close, but all are of the same high quality.

The sound is an interesting one. You've got unusual cooperative rhythms between drums and the guitars. They rock out but never very grungily, it's all in moderation and driven by melody. There's lots of unique sound effects. It doesn't really sound like anything you've heard before 'specially not on the radio, maybe a bit like Tool in terms of the gradual way they develop songs, but not at all in terms of thematic material or mood. The songs are happy. The only downside to "El Cielo" for me is the lead singer's voice. Still he's a lot less strident than on their previous album, Leitmotif, and threw better lyrics together too.

This is one of those albums/bands that in 2 or 3 years everyone will be talking about, it just boggles the mind that it hasn't happened yet. All the other reviews I read say the same thing. So if nothing else get peer pressured into buying it.