DIALECT [AKA: WILL EXIST FOREVER]

Will Exist For 3.5

Will Exist Forever can be summed up in a single word: fun. This album is not deep. It is not beautiful. It is not diverse. It will not shock you or appall you. However, if you are willing to let yourself be caught up in some very groovy, mid seventies metal style jams, occasionally with a toss of the spacey, then Dialeto is will doubtlessly prove...well, for lack of a better word, a very fun band.

Will Exist Forever opens up with “Vermelha,” a pure instrumental that showcases the band’s “middle eastern metal” vibe. It’s a rousing number, and a nice opener, as well as a decent showcase of what the band can do. Much more memorable, however, is “Mme. Blavatsky.” It reeks of early, still psychedelic, Black Sabbath, complete with an evil riff. The riff is a tad repetitive, but things are kept interesting by creepy violin noises in the background, and a stuttering guitar solo.

“Existence” is another rocker with an evil, eastern riff...but it’s a bit too thin for its own good. “Enigma” is more of the same, but a slight improvement—the stream of consciousness style of delivery makes it much more intriguing. But these pale in comparison to “Animal,” which shows Dialeto doing what it does best: setting down an infectious avant-garde groove, and running with it. The results are ridiculously easy to headbang along to.

“Anger” presents another metal eastern groove, which is fun, but not quite as fun as “Animal.” However, the high point of the album is probably “Seven Drunks,” another instrumental. But what an instrumental. This is one of the grooviest art grooves I’ve ever heard, easily worthy of Larks’ Tongues in Aspic era King Crimson. The band really gels on this one; the guitar work is fantastic, but I could listen to the rhythm section all day if I wanted.

“Misty Queen” is an attempt to combine the two aesthetics that fails: a nutty stream of consciousness rants that ends up in a jazzy groove. However, the opening is weak, and song feels disconnected and falls flat. The album closes shop with one final instrumental, “Gunga Din.” It’s a nice outro, no “Seven Drunks” perhaps, but a decent metal groove.

All in all, when Dialeto sticks with what works, it works. And what works? What works is that classic metal groove they do, when they start to sound like a (successfully) funky Led Zep. Case in point, my highlights are things like “Seven Drunks” and “Animal,” where the whole point of the song is the bass and drums working up some kind of rhythmic storm, all while the guitar freaks out. The psychedelic stream of consciousness touches are nice to break up the action (Mme. Blavastky, Enigma), but when they get out of control, it usually doesn’t end well.

But that’s a big usually. For the most part, Dialeto seem to know what they’re doing. They’re a good set of musicians, and very attuned to each other. When they jam, it might not be the most technically perfect sound on the planet, but it is a very, very enjoyable one. If anyone out there likes the heavy, jammy side of King Crimson or Deep Purple, then Dialeto is definitely a progressive treat.

(As a super special bonus, CD copies of Will Exist Forever contain two extra tracks. “Just For Free” is a fairly aimless instrumental that contains all the technical wizardry of “Vermelha” but none of the charm and atmosphere. However, the Portuguese version of “Animal” is great; it sounds more natural than the album version, probably due to the fact that it’s in a language I can’t understand. Which helps me to focus more on the groove, which is fine as far as I’m concerned. Neither track is particularly essential, but you won't hear me complain about the additional run through of “Animal.”)

One part Crimson, one part Eastern...

Were the 80s carnation of King Crimson for some reason to be stranded in the middle east, I would imagine that their albums would have come out sounding a little like this. Will Exist Forever is the debut effort from this Brazilian band that shows a lot of promise thanks to their unique blend of styles that combines to make some very enjoyable heavy progressive music. One of the band's greatest strengths is simply that uniqueness, and even though comparisons can be drawn and influences can be picked out - this is probably mostly unlike anything you've ever heard before.

While the band may not have any 'epics' or 'concepts' to make the album into some kind of crazy 70s throwback album that will make prog fans rejoice and others call it retro, there's no doubt that this is what you would call 'progressive'. One of the crazy things about some prog fans is that they will simply start off on the wrong foot with an album if they don't see a 16-minute long song on it, and while this isn't true about every album, you - the reader - must admit that you've done that at least once. Looking at the track listing for the album you can see that the lengthiest track runs a mere 5-minutes. A bad thing? Not at all! Another one of Dialeto's greatest strengths is that they're able to make a lot with a little, develop songs in a short amount of time and use interesting elements that are done and over with before they become tiresome.

Between the heavy and eastern instrumental sections and the quirky vocals, there's a lot to like about the individual songs. While there are a couple of standouts among the album, the thing just works so well on the whole with all the songs flowing together. What's nice is that you can go from a serious and strange song such as Anger where the vocals turn into a strange mantra to a pseudo-instrumental with a high degree of quirk and melodic laughing that sounds like it could be coming from a pirate bar in Seven Drunks before the band rocks your brains out with some heavy riffs and magnificent soloing. Other standouts on the album include the song that brings the band closest to being called Discipline Krimson MK II in the form of the quirky Animal and the absolutely killer title track which is probably the best among all the tracks, Existence. This is where it all comes together for the band, and while the rest of the album is certainly impressive, this is the song that hits the nail on the head in terms of style and substance. It's also probably the darkest song on the album, although knowing the band's somewhat twisted sense of humor, this song probably has some kind of meaning behind it.

Wrap it all up in a very nice Mini-LP sleeve with some post rockish pictures of the band on the gatefold and you've got yourself quite a package. Dialeto may be a new band on the scene, but they've already found their sound (probably because while they may be ''new'', they actually have been around for quite some time), and it should appeal to a lot of progressive fans. If you're looking something with an eastern groove that has some demanding moments and others that you can simply zone out to then this may a perfect fit for you. Definitely a band to check out and keep an eye on, this one is getting 4 stars out of 5! An excellent addition to any progger's library, assuming you know how to rock out to an eastern King Crimson in odd time signatures.

DIALETO is the best thing to happen to prog.rock since Primus. I kid you not; Dialeto's _Will Exist Forever_ is an instant classic. These guys are impossible to pigeonhole. At times they remind me of Voivod without the thrash, at others they sound like The Comsat Angels gone space rock a la Gong. Dialeto is a genre defying band. One minute it's middle eastern, King Crimson avant gardisms...the next it's Black Sabbath - then a hard left turn into Sonic Youth territory with a Deep Purple-like rhythm section drive...touching it off with Larry Lalonde-like guitar noise. All in one song. Brand X trying to play sloppy Led Zeppelin? Ritchie Blackmore soloing like Tony Iommi? You name it...it's here! There is nothing dated about this music either. No digital keyboards(actually, no keyboards at all - keyboards are non existent). Also, think of post punk bands like The Fall, Television, Gang Of Four & Talking Heads hopping on the Primus bandwagon. Call it Slacker Prog. DIALETO is incredible on so many levels(the track _Enigma_ must be turned up to '11').

Of all the new bands I feature on my radio programme, DIALETO received the most amount of phone calls from inquiring minds. These guys deserve to be an opening band for one of the modern biggies like Porcupine Tree or The Ozrics for some exposure...or at least they need to be invited to one of the big prog.rock festivals to show us their bizarre chops. DIALETO is definetely the best thing to come out of Brazil since Milton Nascimento, O Terco and Sepultura(now there's a mix). There are no turkeys on _Will Exist Forever_. Every track is unique and it gets better with each listen. Primus fans take notice. Symphonic prog.rock fans should avoid this. However, this would appeal to space rock, hard prog, jazz/fusion and maybe the RIO crowd(especially folks who enjoyed the No Wave movement).

DIALETO are a power trio from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first time I heard them I thought of some of those heavy KING CRIMSON-like bands from Chile I like so much. After many listens though I have to say that these guys have their own unique sound. I just have a blast when I play this.The vocalist can be theatrical, and the guitar, bass and drums are so impressive. I guess I just like this style of music a lot, and these guys couldn't perform it any better.

"Vermelha" opens with this atmospheric guitar that goes on and on unil it kicks in before 2 1/2 minutes. Nice. "Mme. Blavatsky" is dark and eerie with drums and bass leading the way. Spoken words a minute in. It;s building and then the guitar starts to solo 2 minutes in. "Existence" has an ethnic flavour to it and I love the sound of the guitar after 1 1/2 minutes and 3 minutes in. Deep bass later. "Enigma" is dark and haunting as spoken words come in. This is so good as he tells this story, I really like his accent too. This gets pretty heavy at times and check out the guitar and bass 4 minutes in. The drums are over "Animal" and the vocals get theatrical in this uptempo rocker.

"Anger"has some good bottom end to it and the vocals are again theatrical but laid back this time. "Seven Drunks" opens with what sounds like seven drunks laughing. Guitar then takes over with bass and drums. Great sound. Some angular guitar here too. "Misty Queen" opens with relaxed guitar melodies as reserved vocals join in. It kicks in after 1 1/2 minutes. The guitar is killer 2 minutes in and check out the growly bass. "Gunga Din" has this spooky intro but it changes quickly as the whole band comes in. The guitar solo before 2 minutes as drums pound and bass throbs. I don't usually comment on bonus tracks but "Just For Free" is worth some commentary. The guitar is all over this until the drums and bass arrive 2 minutes in. Great sound a minute later.

Highly recommended for fans of Heavy-Prog, this is too much fun.

A progressive rock gem lost in time and space

Dialeto is a progressive rock band formed back in 1987, which only released one album in 1991, called Will Exist Forever. The very same album was reissued eighteen years later with some minor changes: the vocals were re-recorded and the violins were added. Except from those two things, it is the same album as it was in 1991! To know that is very important, because then you are able to see how good the music from this band from São Paulo is: the music is so good that, even after almost twenty years, it still sound s current, up to date, which is something that only some very few can do.

This characteristic of sounding timeless probably happens because their music has such unusual elements and have such wide body of normal influences, so to speak, in rock music in general, like Deep Purple and Jimi Hendrix, besides not using elements from the pop music, at the time they were recording the album (the early 1990's). Another interesting thing about them is that Dialeto is that the band is greatly influenced by King Crimson, like thousands of others, but, unlike the majority of other Crimson-influenced bands, they don't try to mime Fripp and Co., but simply use them as a point of reference, what is something very positive. The band also have quite a large amount of influence from traditional Central-Asian music (foremost the traditional afghani and pakistani music), but, despite what that kind of music may seem or sound like by itself, that fit very well in the context of the album and in the mix of influences the band have. In the end, it sounds inexplicably good and round.

One more thing that contribute greatly for the album's quality is its length. Many progressive rock albums today seem to be just so very long. I mean, I love big and bloated albums, but only when they have new ideas or new approaches to use in all of it, and a large part of those big albums don't. This album is quite realistic because the band do not try to sound or to be something that they aren't, they do exactly what they are supposed to do and do their best in the process, with predictable good results. In other words, the albums clocks at the right time.

Grade and Final Thoughts

Will Exist Forever has all the elements of a classic: great music, for the right amount of time, that will not sound old as time passes. Besides that, the album also does not have a spacial identity, meaning that it does not sound like the music from any part of the globe, specifically. That is why the album is a prog rock gem lost in time and space: it does not have a native place nor sounds old, it can be from any time and from anywhere. The album was born to be good. Because of all that, 4 stars is more than deserved in this album's case.

Interesting début effort by this Brazilian act, and fascinating in itself to come across an effort that basically has been 18 years in the making, the instrumental features mostly laid down in 1990 with some additional features and vocals added in 2008.

The short, concise compositions of this band will remind many of King Crimson, at least on a superficial level. The quirky, swirling, subtly dissonant guitars is the main reason for that, at times reminding so much of early 80's King Crimson that one might suspect this band had gotten hold of some previously unrecorded material from that era of Fripp's output.

At times that is. As most of the tracks on this disc also adds in additional elements to the proceedings. Eastern-tinged melodic flavours runs like a red thread throughout this album, first and foremost provided by the guitar. In the mellower passages distinctly psychedelic tinged echoing guitar licks is a common feature, and there's a few nods in the direction of 80's new wave rock music to be found too. While some of the more simplistic efforts have more of a blues foundation, where the bass and drums in particular makes me think of Robin Trower's mid 70's efforts.

The fretless bass underscores the guitars pretty nicely throughout, with a distinct melodic sound that often adds a slight jazz impression to these efforts, and the steady, energetic drums adds impact and momentum but also adds in some quirky drum rolls and rhythms when suitable.

The main weakness on this production are the vocals, somewhat unmelodic and accented, and while sticking to more of a spoken word performance on the handful of tracks that are non-instrumental they do distract, first and foremost on Animal. The Portuguese version of that number, featured as a bonus track, is a much more interesting affair due to the partial elimination of that weakness.

All in all an interesting album, and one that should interest those who might fancy a tight, quirky band exploring an eclectic art rock universe.

I don't get it . . .

I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about with this release. I mean, there is nothing about the music that stands out to me. It sounds like one big mesh of random, semi-technical playing that is neither well-orchestrated or all that fun to listen to. It just is. Now, I have never judged music on anything but how it makes me feel personally, and I can honestly say that Will Exist Forever makes me feel depressed and gives me a headache when listening to it. That's not saying that the music is 'bad' - it's just not for me.

I think perhaps you should do yourself a favor if you're like me and listen to the samples present on this page. If you don't like what you hear, don't assume that the rest of the album is all that much better, because you won't be satisfied. I didn't really care much for what I heard, but assumed the album as a whole would help the few tracks I did hear make more sense in the proper context. I now feel like those assumptions were false. If you like the sample tracks, you'll like the album, but if you don't, then you won't. Simple. So don't make the mistake of assuming you're just not 'getting it' and purchase something you'll be unhappy with.

So as I said, this one didn't impress me at all. Perhaps one day in the future, I'll give this one a listen, and suddenly it will all become clear to me what makes this album so great and/or special. If that does indeed happen, and I'm still writing reviews here, I'll re-write this review, Until then, however, I'm going to assume I'll never figure out what all the fuss is about, and I'm going to stand by my rating of two stars. Apparently I'm the only guy thus far who has a low opinion of this work, but maybe that won't always be the case. Oh well; this isn't the first time I've gone against popular opinion on something.

In my opinion, this is overrated, but if you like what little bit you're hearing on this page's sample tracks, chances are the album will suit your tastes better, but for me, it just didn't work. Two stars.

Brazilian trio Dialeto was found in 1987 in Sao Paulo as Dialect by guitarist/singer Nelson Coelho, drummer Miguel Angel and bassist Andrei Ivanovic, playing music inspired by the likes of King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.After an eponymous LP on Faunus Records in 1991 the band was put on ice (Ivanovic performed for a short time with O Terço), only to be ressurected some 15 years later as Dialeto.The sole release of the group was reworked in 2008 with additional guitar and violin parts, while the vocals were re-recorded.The album was then released during the year as ''Will exist forever'' on the Brazilian label Rock Symphony.

Dialeto proposed an intricate and powerful Heavy Prog with strong psychedelic vibes, some Ethnic orientations and lots of passionate grooves akin to KING CRIMSON, split in 11 short pieces and based on both mid- and up-tempo rhythmic tunes.The addition of violins remind me of ANKH, while the music is very atmospheric, although the vocals are pretty accented, yet they do work well in such a dark enviroment.Pretty great guitar moves by Coelho with an evident FRIPP-like approach, containg sharp riffs and angular rhythmic tones with limited but also interesting solos.Some of the tracks are rather vocal-oriented with a slight Post-Punk aura, but the memorable grooves in them are pretty damn great.However there is some balanced space for guitar-oriented instrumental madness as well.''Existence'' is also based on traditional Afghan Music and Dialeto have transformed it into a fine Ethnic rocker, while a pair of other cuts have obvious Ethnic vibes in the guitar runs.The problem with all these bands is that their sound is a bit sterile at moments, lacking efficient diversity.

A nice album for all KING CRIMSON maniacs or anyone into Progressive Rock with a guitar-styled edge.Rhythmic, quirky, fairly psychedelic and dynamic music all the way.Recommended.