Internal Revolution

They’re members of the “United New England Hardcore Metal Bands” alliance, which includes Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed and Shadows Fall, and yet they’re chasing a direction and concepts that are entirely their own. Whether that’s possible and fruitful is something Boston outfit Diecast have been testing and proving since 1997. Soon after forming, their blend of melody and heavy, hard-hitting rock won them a solid base among local listeners, the local hardcore and metal faithful. In 1997 they put out a couple of demo recordings, and a year later came their first six-track album, Undo The Wicked. The lineup changed regularly (guitarists, especially, kept coming and going). After moving from Now Or Never to Century Media, they swapped out their vocalist too: Colin Schleifer was replaced behind the mic by Paul Stoddard. Two years after their last album, Tearing Down Your Blue Skies, which got quite encouraging reviews, Diecast are back with a revamped look and a fresh batch of songs for everyone craving a modern-day mix of metal and hard core. With a new coat of paint, a whiff of change and a drive to move forward, to take a step ahead, the fourth release sounds quite different from what you’d expect if you followed the continuity of their earlier records. The reason is a completely overhauled lineup: Diecast recruited an entirely new rhythm section, so not a single founding member is left in the band. Drummer Dennis Pavia and bassist Brad Horion finally let Paul Stoddard work more natural-sounding vocals into the songs. As a result, the melodies are far more approachable, and, even though compromises usually soften the original edge and heaviness of the compositions (not this time, though), they also stick in your memory a lot more easily.

Still, Internal revolution has two sides. On one hand, it offers what we’ve gotten used to from the genre’s tricks on their previous album: an expertly played, thoroughly polished derivative of metalcore brilliance. On the other hand, we have to admit it: metalcore has gone from a phenomenon to a repetition of a pretty similar-sounding mix of metal and hard core, and the bands sound rather cookie-cutter, worn-out and the same, or at least unimaginatively alike – victims of being blinded by the imperative of never straying and taking the same approach. There’s simply no recipe for immunity. Not even Diecast could escape it. ‘Never Forget’, ‘S.O.S.’ and ‘Definition Of A Hero’ offer, at their core, a contrasting duality of darkness and light: harsh guitar riffs fighting with sparkling harmonies, furrowed guttural vocals weaving soft textures of pretty, melodic singing in between the screams. Brutal outbursts drop into utter chasms of silence, carefully planned but often killing the energy of the track. They’re not unlistenable. Far from it! It just starts to feel slightly chewed over and digested. Yet Diecast promise change, a break and an upgrade. ‘Fractured’ and ‘Weakness’ are, for example, proof of that effort. A mix of rhythm and instilled directness, the kind that would kick you straight in the face (not even Pantera would shy away from that), and then all of a sudden we slip into the melancholic melody of the soft parts in the connecting passages… They defuse the near-claustrophobic tension with what’s almost black-metal-style fast-fingered picking. You can hear the effort, no doubt about it! Individual, carefully placed notes hit hard. But music can be saved by something more than just technically polished fireworks – say, with killer choruses. And that’s exactly what carries the listen onward. To the light and the grand finale. Where Internal Revolution raises concern is that there’s no hero who can cover the entire spectrum of beautiful and ugly, dark and light without falling into a vacuum; it leaves open craters of what could still have been covered, and it offers material worth further attention. The compensation lies in brilliant flashes, which have to be more than just that, subtly piercing the monotony and grabbing you. There are plenty of them on the record, but they’re pretty well hidden. Visible only after a few listens and some careful archaeological digging through layers of, pardon the expression, trashy crap that’s hard to believe in. Those little sparks do stoke curiosity, though. Internal Revolution is definitely a listen suited to those who haven’t yet met metalcore and want to find out quickly what it’s all about. Diecast are good musicians with plenty of know-how in this department. I believe they’ve got something more in the tank. The record isn’t exactly something that’d make me say I felt internal tectonic shifts or a change in my inner outlook. Still, there’s definitely hope for them. They just need less routine and more willingness to let the music run free. Less brain and more instinct – with balls.