THE CATALYST FIRE

While many people focus their attention on rising progressive talent in Europe or the US, I'm here to tell you that Australia is witnessing an explosion of progressive talent. The Aussies also have a distinct sound, rather ethereal and at the same time heavy-hitting. Indeed, their music is elegant and graceful, but also accessible, intricate, subtle, and melodious. All of these adjectives apply to the band Dead Letter Circus, as well.

Dead Letter Circus are certainly more accessible than most prog bands. They are proggy, but have a certain level of alternative influence that makes them "cool", if you will. These guys, besides being absolutely hilarious and also brilliant at their live shows, have a way of making soaring music that is simultaneously complicated, catchy, and charismatic. Yes, the band usually focuses on shorter song structures, some alternative arrangements, proggy instrumentals and vocals, and an aerial atmosphere. As it were, then, DLC is an excellent band to introduce new people to progressive music, as I feel the elements of their music are easily dissected and easy on the ears.

I am a fan of DLC's debut album, "This is the Warning", for its fantastic vibes, respectable difficulty, and simply outstanding guitar work. However, I think their sophomore album, "The Catalyst Fire", is definitely head-and-shoulders above their debut work. The compositions are more mature, headier, more complex, and even just catchier, too. I was even a little worried, as guitarist Rob Maric left the band, and I had never heard new guitarist Clint Vincent. However, my worry was for not, as the high-tuned guitars are back, and Clint may be an even better player. Indeed, the whole band stepped it up a few notches, as the rather simple melodies of the first album are replaced with complexity, dazzling instrumental acrobatics, and a cohesion that usually takes a band a few more albums to attain. Guitars are riveting, the drums ambitious, the keys atmospheric, and the bass seems to be the hinge upon which major hooks swing.

Vocalist Kim is astounding, as always. I saw DLC live with Fair to Midland a couple years ago, and, having only heard DLC's album a few times, I was simply blown away by his control and power. Yes, I think one of the problems with both albums is that you don't really get any idea of just how good a singer Kim really is. He is an artist, and he is impressive, especially live. His style is alternative, but, as I said, his vocals are also proggy as he never succumbs to the laziness of much mainstream music. He pushes himself and uses odd vocal lines that sound so good alongside the striking music.

From the great introductory "The Cure" and my favorite "Alone Awake" to the oddly catchy "Lodestar" and "I Am", this album fires on all cylinders; or, if you aren't a car person, this album hits all the right spots. I was also particularly impressed with the included acoustic versions of "I Am" and "Lodestar", as they change the arrangements impressively. They also include a single from a couple years ago, "Wake Up", which was a great idea, as this tune is simply surreal.

So, pay more attention to the Australia scene. I can name almost a dozen upcoming progressive Aussie bands that are brilliant. They are unique and varied, and Dead Letter Circus is certainly at the forefront of the scene with their kinetic live shows and hypnotic music. Keep your ears peeled.

I first encountered the Australian outfit Dead Letter Circus when a friend sent me a copy of This is the Warning, their first album, and I was immediately hooked by their powerful melodic neo-prog/punkish wall of sound. I was very stoked to hear that a new album was coming out in 2013.

The Catalyst Fire disappointed me, in large part because their first album had so much promise. The massive wall-of-guitars sound and distinctive vocals are still present...but somehow between the first album and this one the guys seem to have become so concerned with the technical side of songwriting that they forgot about pure musical appeal. Most of the songs seem more complex than strictly necessary, overthought and overworked, which detracts from their interest. It took me many listens to even be able to recall the song when I read the song title...they really do sound alike, with the possible exception of "Lodestar", the best track on the album. The album is decent, but not gripping.

I will say that the LPs might be some of the most spectacularly beautiful I've ever seen, both the limited-edition picture disc and the glorious coloured vinyls. I do not regret buying those.

Still Searching

I feel my bitterness towards The Catalyst Fire has mostly passed by now, so it's a good time to finally address it. It's strange, I don't think anyone expected this sophomore release to have a hair against This Is the Warning, especially not me, but when it dropped I was still disappointed in it. Maybe it was the hordes of people saying that this was an improvement that rustled my jimmies a bit, to the point where I was shouting "THE CATALYST FIRE SUCKS YOU'RE ALL WRONG OMG" everywhere. So of course, I then got to the embarrassing moment when I started to enjoy this record, and I had to swallow my pride a bit and admit I did judge this a bit quickly.

But, of course, in comparison to This Is The Warning, this is a pretty pitiful record, and the only reason you could ever prefer it, in my mind, is if you heard this first. As much as Dead Letter Circus would want you to believe otherwise with their videos leading up to the album explaining how much they did differently, this is more or less the same DLC we've always known. If you're here for the instrumental part of their music, you won't be disappointed. Sure, it's missing a few of the absolutely ridiculous riffs that littered This Is The Warning, but it's still the same old delay drenched guitar playing those pretty cool lines all over the place. The difference here is in one person, the man that made This Is The Warning one of the best albums of all time, and the man who has made The Catalyst Fire one of the most frustrating follow-ups ever. Kim Benzie.

Kim's vocal parts are the best part of DLC's music. I don't know many people who deny that. Sure, those instrumentals are bloody cool, and the drums are incredibly intricate, but honestly, most of us are here to sing at the top of our lungs, not listen to drumming and comment on the use of 32nd notes. And what Benzie as here is the same problem I noted on "Wake Up", he's just not quite hitting the hooks. I hit it a while back, the little thing that just irks me about this album, is that the vocal parts seem unfinished. They sound like vocal lines that he came up with when first hearing the instrumentals, by randomly singing notes and searching for the elusive hook. And so many times he misses completely.

Take the intro to "Say Your Prayers", with Benzie singing over a minimal backing. The notes he hits here just don't seem to mesh, they just don't seem to be cohesive, he's just aiming somewhere and looking for the hook, the part of their music that makes them so good. And it just doesn't come. Unfortunately, the sound of Benzie hitting the same note over and over again pretending it's some form of emotional melody becomes a regular occurrence in this record, like in one of the better tracks "Stand Apart", where Benzie is just singing one note for the entire chorus, before going into what could be described as a hook. You can hear in the way that he sings that he wants this to sound brilliant and epic, like a lot of the choruses on This Is The Warning, but it doesn't, it sounds tired and empty.

I exaggerate though, because there are still hooks here, otherwise I wouldn't like it, they're just so much more spread out and less exciting than anything on the debut. Take "Alone Awake", which is probably the best track here. It has a pretty strong intro, a nice little refrain, and one of the catchiest little hooks on the record in the verse. But the chorus is just so? anticlimactic. It builds pretty well, as most DLC songs do, but the chorus doesn't use any of this energy, Benzie just slots into a mediocre vocal line and belts it. Sure, the way he delivers it is pretty good, but honestly, you'd have to be Kim Benzie to make anything out of that vocal line (oh wait?)

But I should digress from complaining, which I always seem to do. Because as much as I could list a hundred things that This Is The Warning does better, every time I hear it, I have this nagging feeling that if I had heard this first, I would absolutely love it. As I've said before, there are no bad Dead Letter Circus songs. Sure, "The Veil" and "Kachina" come pretty close, but those aren't bad, they're just uninteresting and insignificant. And I know for a fact that if I find a record that I like every track but two to a certain extent, I'm ecstatic. My love for The Catalyst Fire has been tainted by the fact that its predecessor was nearly a perfect album.

There are moments here that are truly great. I love the explosive intro to "Burning Man", opening up with that huge chorus. I've mentioned in my single review that I'm a bit fan of the first riff in "Lodestar", it feels epic and overwhelming, similar to the final section of "Cage" that I was such a huge fan of. The instrumentation on "Stand Apart" is another great moment, where it takes the turn for the hectic and crazed, something that I feel they could develop more, after they hinted at it on "The Drum".

In the end, The Catalyst Fire is a decent album, but it just seems like a half-assed attempt at recreating the debut. Sure, most songs here have a pretty catchy hook within, but on This Is The Warning, there were three, even four sometimes, in one track alone. The choruses on This Is The Warning were a level above, every step taking the song higher, but here I'm often finding that the verses are more interesting, and they build up to a weak pay off in the chorus. Some of the tracks here, particularly Lodestar, Alone Awake and Stand Apart, could rival some of the best on This Is The Warning when you hear the intro, but they just fail to capitalise on the energy created and land somewhere in mediocrity. I like this record, but you line up every song here against every song on the debut, the best song here would probably only be better than 3 or 4 songs there.

7.6/10

Originally written for my Facebook page/blog: www.facebook.com/neoprogisbestprog