Last night I had the privilege of looking at Dissolute, the third studio effort by lesser-known Aussie rockers Vibraveil. I say lesser-known because not only was this my first exposure to the album, but it was my first time even hearing of the band. After listening to an entire studio album of theirs, I can say with absolute certainty that I haven't the slightest idea who they sound like. They have a very unique brand of alternative metal-meets-progressive rock-meets post grunge. The closest relation I could make to their sound is if Pearl Jam were to try making a metal album. Or perhaps if Tool tried their hand at alternative rock. Maybe they're a demon child of the two? Whose to say. Regardless of whoever they might sound like, it was their unique concoction of these different genres that creates Vibraveil's signature sound, and let me tell you that it worked a lot better than I thought it would.
Before I get further into it, let me get a few things off my chest. I am not a fan of alternative. And what's more, I hate grunge. Being the big 80s metal fan you know me to be, this should come as no surprise. So if I come across as harsh or off-target with some of my analysis, that's why.
Even with the albums consistent tone, the band still showed plenty of variety while staying true to who they are. "Eutherian Dream," for example, has a punk-like edge to it that gave it a harder bite than some of the other tracks. Deeper into the record was "Blue Sky Drowning," which featured the bass groove that I was desperately waiting for throughout the entire first half of the record. Something about alt. metal post grunge prog. rock just SCREAMS bass groove to me, and this track brought it. I mean really brought it. Turn the bass up on your home stereo and give this track a listen, you'll see exactly what I mean. There's even an unexpected percussion solo that I wasn't prepared for, featuring what I THINK sounded like bongos and a tambourine. Maybe. You'll have to confirm with the band.
"Podium" was the track that stood out to me the most. It was, in my opinion, the most hard-rock almost metal sounding track of the whole record. Harder guitar, and just a more driving feel to the whole thing. "Unyielding Resilience," however, was one of the tracks that lost me. Any loyal readers should know that I am not one for a slow song, and for the first 2.5 minutes, that's all this was. Then the break finally comes in, and they speed things up to make it more interesting. Then maybe a minute or two later, we slow it back down and it loses me again.
My biggest gripe with what actually surprised me as a pretty cool record, was the mixing. The band is young and hungry, and there's definitely signs of that, however they just haven't gotten the sound-engineering part down yet. On some tracks the drums heavily overpowered the vocals, and I couldn't really hear the guitar at all. On slower tracks, however, it was actually the opposite. The guitar overpowered the drums.
All in all, I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this record. For a genre that I would never seek out on my own, these guys from down under really shook me. I'd definitely be interested to see where these guys go from here.
Dissolute - Vibraveil
11 - 15 - 2019
1. Tragic End
2. Rebirth
3. Together Now
4. Consequence Catastrophe
5. Microcosm
6. Eutherian Dream
7. Blue Sky Drowning
8. Podium
9. Macrocosm
10. Forgotten Futures
11. Unyielding Resilience
12. Anxiety Machine
Favorite Track: Podium
Least Favorite Track: Macrocosm
Rating: 7.0
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