Review Summary: Living in a post-TDEP world
There was a certain vacuum created on December 29th, 2017, the last time The Dillinger Escape Plan went on stage. Since then many tried to fill this vacuum and many failed, but some succeeded. This is the story about the one that didn’t fail.
I was lucky enough to get this EP beforehand from the band’s singer Eugene, who was conducting a viral media campaign to generate some hype before the release. I’ve already listened to Finals. like couple dozen times and now I’m ready to review it, I didn’t want to just post it on my Facebook page and decided to come here, the place I’ve been lurking for many years and I know that many of you may actually like it (both my writing and the band).
The Nietzsche is an odd ball. They play a pretty heavy dramatic music, but dress silly for their live performances, lyrics of their songs are an actual poems from famous poets of different times, and the attitude of their social presence is just plain hilarious. And now they announced that their third EP will be theirs final, hence the name, but no one really believes this, the hope is that they will finally begin work on a proper full-length. Time will tell.
So the Finals are just five tracks, okay not just, but whole five insanely great songs. They are all different, one thing in common is that every song has this massive chorus which gets stuck in your head like for weeks. EP starts with a punch in your face, Prancer comes to mind when you hear such instant attack on your eardrums. One thing it’s in Russian, but only first and last tracks are in Russian, rest are in English. In Kharms Way ends with such heart-breaking chorus that will make you sweat. Record shifts its pace to a more upbeat sound reminiscent of Frank Carter, but with a catchy hook that I hope one day will shake some bigger venues. Next two songs have landed on Converge territory with a very fierce breakdowns and d-beats. Guitar tone on this record is something to adore, bass and drums sound like they were melted together and overall I think it’s the best production I’ve heard in the genre. Too bad it all ends too soon with an epic closer Vasyl, but thank god for a repeat button.
The central aspect of this EP is definitely the vocals. Eugene’s delivery is very precise, his screams are so full of emotions and power, and the clean singing and melodies are just too good for the metal music, I can hear his voice fit perfectly in something more mainstream and popular. The versatility of the vocals on these five songs is just over the roof, it’s really all over the place. The way the singer shifts between different styles and techniques without losing the cohesiveness is incredible. Here he sounds like Jacob Bennon and now he’s Troy Sanders of Mastodon, Mike Patton flip-flops with Keith Buckley, and yet there’s always something unique in Eugene Tymchyk’s voice.
Yeah, there’s no point in dragging it, I love the record. I know that the vocalist has another band Septa that is somewhat bigger than The Nietzsche and I still need to get into them. But for now all I can hope that it’s all just a stupid joke and they will continue on with this band. This post-TDEP world needs you.
