It started out simply enough.
The band sent an email wondering if we would review “cookie monster/blast beat
death metal”. Racer responded that he had a guy (me) who listens to all kinds
of metal. Of course the way he said it, he seemed to imply that I would listen
to puppies being strangled if it was set to the right blast beat, but I just
rolled with it. Then this promo showed up and here we are, getting ready to
talk about Ditheist.
Ditheist hail from Chicago, and they were not kidding in the least about the cookie monster vocals or the blast beats. This is some meat and potatoes kind of death metal right here. This hits me like when you scratch a dog in just the right spot on his belly and his back leg just starts going. Just so we're clear, I'm the dog and Ditheist is doing the scratching. Except my leg isn't going, my head is banging furiously.
I don't mean to make light, because this is some pretty ripping, crushing stuff. The vocals, the blasts, and those wild death metal guitar solos that I love so much. It's all here. These guys aren't trying to re-invent a single thing in the genre, just laying out some good, solid death. If you have ever loved any death metal band before, these guys will be right up your alley. There is nothing wrong with doing a thing and doing it well. When you go to McDonald's, do you want your Big Mac to taste different every time? Hell no, you want a Big Mac. Same with Ditheist. You want some solid death metal, these are your dudes.
The album is nice and concise, with eight tracks with nothing longer than three and a half minutes. Get in, do your thing, get out and on to the next. Many metal bands these days make the mistake that songs have to go on forever or albums need to have twelve or thirteen songs. They do not. They have to be good songs, they have to make their point, and then they can be over. Ditheist get that. They get, like, 500 bonus points just for that factor alone.
These guys are all solid musicians who handle their instruments in just the way you want them to for this genre. The songs are well written with lots of riffs at a good tempo and basically the album just rips from first note to last. The title track was a standout to me with a couple of nice changeups for good measure. I like “Blind Dead” too. It has some really speedy, blasting parts and backs off just enough for the vocal sections. And it has some really cool guitar work. All of these songs are good songs and prime examples of what death metal is. As I said, these guys know what they are doing and they do it well. The album has been out for a few months now, so sorry guys that I didn't get to it sooner, but I heartily endorse this one. Go find it and add it to your collection. You'll probably listen to this one a lot more than you think you will.
-ODIN
