Dredg
Catch Without Arms

THE REVIEW

There is only one adjective to define this album by the Americans Dredg, "Catch Without Arms," and it is SURPRISING. There are no other ways to describe the radiance, the liveliness, the enthusiasm, the adrenaline, and the captivating energy released by this latest work of theirs, dated 2005.

There are many highlights on this album. Right from the first track "Ode To The Sun" you're immediately hit head-on by electric barrages that sustain a damn engaging and impetuous rhythm, made of sharp and thrilling guitars, continuous ups and downs in intensity, and a voice, that of Gavin Hayes, of monstrous presence and intensity, that grabs you, embraces you, and carries you with it to the highest point in the sky, where warm rays surround you and below you reigns blue and serenity.

The beauty of most of the songs contained is that they are very catchy tracks, almost radio-friendly for how easily they are assimilated, yet endowed with an unexpected and superior depth. In this regard, take the title track. Animated by a sweet melancholy guitar that outlines the main riff, the track develops through very brief heavier parentheses and grows in emotional intensity, varying several times in form and time. Listening to it brings to mind many names: from the less cerebral and more emotional Mars Volta to At The Drive In, with some Tool-like branches, 70s echoes, quality emo, and so much more.

More reflective moments (as in "Zebraskin") pleasantly alternate with more energetic ones, constituting a play of contrasts that keeps the listener always alert and vigilant. It's a chiaroscuro effect that we perceive very well in the transition between the mentioned "Zebraskin" and "The Tanbark Is Hot Lava" with its syncopated and hypnotically schizoid rhythmic section, and a voice that here spans levels never before heard on the album, up to a screaming in the central part. A truly exciting and engaging track, surely one of the most beautiful.

Regarding the voice, "Sang Real" is probably the piece where Hayes's work is most emotionally felt. The song, constructed on a once again melancholic register, is animated by a beautiful piano whose notes, light and linear, seem like raindrops falling on a ground covered by a thick layer of snow: where they fall, they leave a mark, a perfect imprint that, along with all the others, constitutes a harmonious drawing that melts the white frost.

"Jamais Vu" is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful tracks of the whole bunch. Entirely built on a very sweet guitar arpeggio in a slow and relentless crescendo, the song is a gem from every point of view. The singer reaches with his voice here very intense peaks, bass and drums are two hearts beating in unison, and the guitars, particularly beautiful and convincing here, skillfully paint a dark blue starry sky with more somber shades typical of the most moving Sigur Ròs.

I would conclude everything with "Matroshka", a gentle lullaby that feels like a goodbye. Opened by the sunny six strings (almost "à la U2" here), the song leaves you speechless, so great is the emotional charge and class displayed by the group. The chorus is a bittersweet kiss, a goodbye to a date still unknown, which for sure will come, though. You know when, after one of those long trips to the sea by car with friends, you find yourself talking, half-asleep from fatigue, about old anecdotes and events that happened years earlier when you were in class together? The words, the memories, become edged with gold, gentle and nostalgic playful threads that, by magic, revive thanks to your friends' jokes. One of those moments when you feel at peace with yourself, ready to take your life back in hand with even greater determination.

A record, I repeat, extraordinary and unique in its ability to communicate emotions. Certainly, a work worthy of listening to by everyone, a little masterpiece that, I fear, has gone a bit too unnoticed, at least around here.