Review Summary: On this evidence, the world isn't big enough for a band as ambitious as Die so fluid.
These days it seems that if so much as one of your songs gets played regularly on such popular Music channels as Scuzz TV, you can guarantee that you'll find yourself playing some very big arenas in the near future. This isn't necessarily the case with the female-fronted Alternative Rock and Metal act Die so Fluid, because even though the extremely catchy single 'Mercury' has been played many, many times within the media, they still haven't been widely recognized as they should really be. Nonetheless, it states that upon the release of Die so Fluid's most recent album, 'The World is not big enough for One Lifetime', every bit of media regarding the UK Alternative Rock and Metal scene has praised Grog and her two bandmates, Drew Richards and Al Fletcher, in the best way possible. As well as 'Mercury', the extremely heavy 'What a Heart is for', being the album's second single, also shows the band's penchant for a simplistic yet seductive sound.
Musically nothing really has changed with Die so Fluid, and as a fan of the band, you shouldn't really expect anything more. This is because of the fact that ever since the release of the band's first and perhaps best album, 'Spawn of Dysfunction', Grog and Co. have been attempting to change their sound all the way.
The album opens up with three of the heaviest songs in the band's catalogue, the surprisingly stunning opener 'Figurine' providing not only an instantly memorable tune but a fantastic example of each and every member of the band's talents. 'Mercury' appears to get catchier and catchier with every repeated listen, and that seductive yet very apt guitar solo courtesy of Drew Richards becomes one of the song's many highlights. Two songs in, and the band already sound as if they're going to storm the charts not a moment too soon.
The album is introduced extremely well, but not everything sounds as heavy and indeed pummelling as it would at first seem. Both the cleverly written 'Raven' ,with its winding hypnotic effects and very tense 'Themis' explore the more melodic, sanctimonious atmospheres that the band simply create seem to breathe new life into the band's well oiled engine of alternative music. It's a well known fact (amongst Die so Fluid's fanbase, at least) that the band haven't wandered off into unknown territories before, but here on 'The World...' these wanderings seem to be much more prominent than ever before.
The only other true highlight of this album's success is it's attempts to reach epic, huge-sounding atmospheres, as the melodic 'Storm' and gargantuan title track soon prove. 'Storm' embraces it's 90's influences in the form of early Garbage and No Doubt, yet never really seems to copy either of those bands using the stylistic guitar changes of Richards alone, whereas the title track, itself proving to be a slightly philosophical approach thanks to Grog's outstanding talents as a lyricist, begins to form something bigger and better than ever before.
However, there are two things that just don't hit quite as hard as they should. One of which being the bass' performance, which for all its hard work, as on the ferocious 'How Vampires Kiss' and unfortunately slightly monotonous 'Hearts are hollow', fails to make itself truly stand out, and consequently lingers in the background beneath Drew Richards' guitar work. The other is, and as much as it pains me to say this, Grog's vocals on certain tracks. If only she had sung with as much passion on the title track, the manic 'Raven' and 'What a Heart is for' as she did on the album's opening few songs, perhaps 'This World...' would have prove to be a more interesting listen than it already is.
That said however, the album closes on stunning effect, with the excellent use of Grog's more melodic vocals on the piano-led 'Death Song', and leaves the listener mesmerized by her enchanting and hypnotic voice. Thus the album ends as it begins, on a very high note. Those who regularly watch the Scuzz TV channel and have done over the last few years will at least have noticed the music video for 'Mercury', and as Die so Fluid are currently writing material for their next album, it seems that as evident on 'This World is too big for a Lifetime', we can only expect the best from a band that have worked as hard as they can to stick in the listener's mind for a very long time.
