This German crew, first found favour with me at Wacken open Air a few years ago, many a reference categorises them as being Post-thrash/Groove Metal and Metal core. After that mouthful, what are they really like?
Yes they have the vocal and guitar breakdown associated with metal core, but then they have the modern thrash tinged anger of many a modern Machine Head tune. All wrapped up in an almost perfect produced package. ‘Grow A Storm’ could well have been penned by Rob Flynn and his crew, fast paced post thrash with angry vocals inducing more venom into your bloodstream. Sometimes the riffing over the fast paced/double time drumming gets lost in the mix, but then it is brought back in time when the track is slowed down and the rapturous double kick drumming boosts everything back up to speed. This single track does have me thinking that they have tried to put everything associated with the various genres into one tune, does this mean it’s a good thing? For me it sounds all over the place. But this balance is addressed later on during the remainder of the album. Groovy riffs and vocal nastiness continues forth with no brakes on ‘Done & Dusted’. The vocal melody breakdown does sound appropriate; there are still elements of cramming everything all into one short tune at the front end of the track, when things settle down again it brings out the quality, especially the real singing moments and the track develops and lets the listener enjoy more a more balanced show of metal might. ‘Motör-Heavy Piss-Take’ is pure Machine Head and Pantera worship, the same energy is produced and the vocal harmonies are pretty tight with the bouncy guitar stuff happening in abundance, this for me is their stand-out tune of the album, “forget your personal crusade and take your vacation”, if this is the case, the vacation works very well indeed, “Dimebag” would be proud of the solo on this track. The title track also affirms their musical ability, more “groove” than anything, and still a very enjoyable run through the musical tornado that is Drone. ‘No Pattern’ is simply a Slipknot rip off, whether this is a piss take or not, its still spoils the flow of the CD, even if the chorus lines are memorable. ‘T.I.A.’ takes their metal core to heart and finishes off the album perfectly.
All the expected rhythms and guitar twiddling is here; time changes often catch out some of the tracks and makes them disjoined. When the band gets their heads down and begins to concentrate on one idea/melody or riff, this is where it becomes clear. Currently on tour with Ektomorf, their groovy modern metal will appeal to fans of both bands. This album is not going to set the world on fire; there is a lot of this music out there, especially in the USA and UK. However, after battling for a number of years in the scene, these Germans make a good effort and deserve a good listen to their art.
http://www.droneband.de
http://www.myspace.com/dronemetal
http://www.wackenrecords.com/
