| The Dizmas: Tension |
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| Posted by Andrew Greenhalgh |
04:44 PM Tuesday, 25 September 2007 |
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Oftentimes one of the biggest knocks against Christian music genres is that they are typically derivative of mainstream music styles. With rare exception, Christian musicians are a step behind the beat, bringing to the Church sounds that have been out in the mainstream for six months and will soon be out of vogue. And in all the shuffle, not only do these bands borrow copiously from their “secular” counterparts, they end up creating music alongside other similarly influenced bands and the market is infused with a deluge of like-sounding fodder for the masses. Such is the case with the latest release from So. Cal based rockers Dizmas, Tension. “See Daylight” picks the pace back up and features a clever breakout chorus chant while “Dance” is a quick high-energy romp that employs a similar device. “This is A Warning” seems to be a throwback track, drawing on some older rock influences yet “The Voice is Ghostly” draws things back to today and allows the band to shine as well as showcase the best lyrical effort of the album. “Nothing At All” wrestles with ideas of judgmentalism over a mid-tempo beat while “Until You Rescued Me” returns to the band to form with some solidly crafted hooks and creative vocal harmonies. While many of the tracks found here seem to simply be clones of mainstream artists, two tracks do stand out. “October” begins simply, allowing bassist Nick Aranda to set the pace as things build, eventually reaching a hard rock breakdown that is pure adrenaline. Raging guitars, thumping bass, and hammering drums stir up the emotion and slowly ebb back out, leaving the subdued atmosphere to close things out. The other highlight is “Sun”, a trippy, ethereal track that hints at the creativity that lies beneath the surface. A plaintive prayer comprises the lyric while electronica-fueled beats add character to the soundscape. All in all, this track sounds supreme. The frustrating thing about reviewing an album like Tension is that it is not a bad sounding album. In fact, the better majority of the album is pleasant to listen to. Yet, the frustration comes in the area of originality. Dizmas is clearly a talented group of performers yet they have not yet found their niche, their home of creativity. Thus, their work ends up coming across as overly derivative and, in simplest terms, sounds the same as everybody else’s. |
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