Ditheramb - 3 Away

Hear The Track Here

Brisbane, Australia's Ditheramb (consisting of Steve and Scott Kinghorn,Jack Greenhill and Glenn Townsend btw) impressed me enormously from the first track I reviewed, In My Shadow (October 2005). Their blend of styles and arranging skills helped because I haven't been known to be into metal since I got rid of me acne by chopping off my head. No, wait a minute. That can't be right. T'ain't often that you see the words melodic and metal intertwined but with Ditheramb it's a description that fits like a glove. Their next track, Euphoria (February 2006) earned them a Must Have from me and still sits on my hard drive. It is a classic example of what Ditheramb seem to do best; dare to be different. After all, a Must Have for a metal track? Not fekkin likely.

A tough act to follow then? After all, that was then and this is now...

I have to say that although I may have reservations about what kind of track they'd offer up this time the one thing that would never change is the quality. These guys DO deliver the goods technically; class production - the 'pin you to the wall' kind and arrangements that (in this case anyway) have some good old fashioned progressive rock overtones to it. Anyway, just to smash this point to smithereens, it's a given that Ditheramb are not going to mess up technically so it only remains for the listener to either like it not. Personally I love this band and I think they are doing something worthwhile and - much more to the point - they are doing it on a consistent basis. Each track has reached a high level of production, enabling the depth and dexterity of the peice to be heard in all it's glory.

Because of those self same progressive rock tendencies, it took me a while to warm to this track. As you may know I have a phobia about prog rock. Ultimately though, this is a Ditheramb track and the same qualities that won them plaudits from me over the last two tracks are the same as make me want to hang on to this track. Ditheramb know how to construct music of meaning and complexity that still manages to reach out in the manner of simpler, more pointed songs, and that's a rare trick. Granted you may have to work your way into this track but the effort is so worth it. Musical references leap out of every note and when these guys rock, they R-A-W-K know what I mean?

Highly Recommended.