Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Chicksy Dicks
Label: Self-released
Released: 2013
Length: 20:18
Rating: 4/5
Chicksy Dicks are a band the RockLine crew has fond memories of. Especially from when they bolted over to the RockLine Epic Contest, held between 2009 and 2010 in Postojna, a town that is sadly completely anemic rock-wise these days. Even with that Postojna show, the Ribnica-based quintet gave a serious heads-up about their talent and creative ambitions.
In 2013 they crowned their original ideas with the EP »Obsessed«, packing six tracks onto it. Chicksy Dicks are a band armed from head to toe with thrash metal vocabulary. It’s a very positive sign that the band is developing a breakthrough sound of its own right from the start, a musical ID card that’s truly theirs, but Chicksy Dicks still build on the influences of their metal heroes. First and foremost, Pantera jump right out at you, and there are definitely some Bay Area thrash vibes in there too, though they work from the background. They don’t push themselves to the front. The band builds on a decisive, thickly beefed-up »riff groove«, which the production nicely contrasts with a resolute, always active rhythm section. In terms of arrangements, too, all six tracks come across as extremely compact, and in that way they effectively squeeze out the mocking, arrogant, catchy and energetically tearing rage we usually look for in the brutal end of thrash metal. This conviction of the EP as a whole, the way it grabs the listener and holds on over its running time, speaks for itself and shows that the band breathes and vibrates as one. Everyone in the lineup is tuned to the same wavelength of creative, mutual perception. That’s the foundation of healthy, convincing evolution and the band’s maturing in the future.
The vocals are suitably guttural, manly mid-range, and they definitely don’t plant flowers when laying down the vocal lines. They’re suitably rough, biting without letting up as the fury gets unleashed. They ignite effectively with the passion and emotion of a rebel’s wake-up call. In tone as well as delivery, they occasionally pull toward Aleks Škofljanec (Negligence). Speaking of Negligence, it’s worth mentioning that the lion’s share of the guitar soloing was done by their former founding member Domen Justin »DYZ«. So the EP is full of fascinating soloing, which has always adorned this excellent guitarist’s playing. DYZ surely also played an important role in steering the sound of the EP. It was produced by the band’s drummer Urban Merhar, who picked up DYZ’s production school along the way. Besides, Chicksy Dicks are no overcomplicators. They get to the point right away, directly. That’s why the songs are formatted to hit instantly on listening. They grab you immediately. In that respect, Chicksy Dicks don’t bring anything new or revolutionary to the scene. That wasn’t to be expected, let alone demanded, from a band that sticks to the formulas of a genre in which, over the years, pretty much everything has already been openly said. What this EP keeps standing tall is thick sonic groove, a furiously avalanching wall of riffs, and heartfelt performance.
Within the stylistic framework the band has signed up to, the six tracks achieve an effective amount of variety, so the EP ebbs and flows nicely in mood across its running time. Great things from small beginnings, then. »Obsessed« is a convincing opening move from the band, and it’s fair to say their next releases will deliver even more catchy metal trash while deepening their own musical catalog. Especially with a bit more of their own provocation, with which they can always freely and carelessly »poke fun« at the elementary classicism of the thrash metal tradition they come from.
Lineup
Matej Lesar – vocals
Martin Skok – guitar
Urban Merhar – drums
Klemen Nadler – bass
Domen “DYZ” Justin – lead guitar (studio)
Žan Bezek – lead guitar
Production
Urban Merhar & Chicksy Dicks
Track list
1. Evil Crow
2. Obsessed
3. Face To See
4. Riot
5. Pussy
6. Don’t Cut Joe
