Die!Die!Die! – Harmony (Rhythmethod) CD REVIEW

WHAT A RELIEF. At last, on their fourth album, Die!Die!Die! has made the record they have always hinted at, but never quite delivered.
Previous releases have sounded a bit too bare-bones, clean-cut, full of shellac but little low-end rumble or texture, a problem that never bothered them live, because the sheer kineticism and momentum of a gig prevented any speculation.
But on Harmony, which was recorded last year in France and sees former Mint Chicks member Mike Logie join them on bass, everything I’ve always wanted to hear from this group is right there, in the music, on the record.
Andrew Wilson’s high-voiced ranting finally has a genuine foil in this roiling noise, with mutant guitar (looped? digitally enhanced?), the extraordinary breadth of fuzztone bass and thundering drums making his venom seem that much more potent.
One great thing: the guitar textures and the harmonics (as opposed to harmonies) and the sense of power and menace are fantastic, but it’s all without losing their bony veneer. That is, Die!Die!Die! were never and still aren’t about bombast, and therefore, will never degenerate into Shihad. Another great thing: there’s something about the frenzied malevolence of Harmony that conjured memories of great, long-forgotten Kiwi bands of the early ‘80s like Alms For Children and This Sporting Life.
There are a few not so great things about Harmony, though. I’ve always hated that plodding drum sounds that proliferates in rock bands, and there’s too much of it here. The drums sound like they need tuning. But I’m probably the only nerd that will point that out, and everyone will think I’m wrong, so…
I could also do without the woozy, intoxicated, disorientating, narcotic effects calculatedly stolen from My Bloody Valentine, but that’s by the by.
Overall, there’s a palpable sense of three guys enjoying the fundamentals of loud, amplified rock instruments on this album, and that’s great to hear four albums in, when bands usually start to sound a little tired. GARY STEEL
Sound = 3.5/5
Music = 4/5