Dredg — El Cielo

Some bands exist to create music that is fundamentally accessiable, and it's focal nature is to appeal to a wide audience and try not to alienate as many potential record-buyers as possible. Other bands strive to write music that is, first and foremost, sincere, and if it calls on being experimental and in-turn deviating from a easily digestible status quo that is perpetuated by the mainstream, then so be it. Sometimes bands can merge both ends of the spectrum together -- being able to appeal to a wide audience and being experimental -- and give birth to an album that is not only cerebral, but also as addicitive as taking a toke off of a crack pipe. A band that would easily fit this description would be San Francisco's Dredg. Their latest album, El Cielo is a phantasmagoric journey through some of the more emotional annals of the human soul.

Dredg isn't a band that is afraid to write a delightfully catchy, melodious tune, but at the same time take the listener on a journey filled to the brim with raw emotion. Although the music is extremely emotional, Dredg doesn't fall prey to the cliche of wallowing in their own self-pity or constantly moaning about how their childhood wasn't desirable -- Leave that to bands such as Crazy Town and Limp Bizkit. El Cielo conveys a message the surpasses the boundaries of self-loathing and angst; and message that is a little more meaningful, sophisticated and hopeful than any of the so-called nu-metal bands could muster up through their contrived and hackneyed lyrical concepts.

The lyrics remain rather neutral and leave everything pretty much open to interpretation. Nowhere on the album will you be spoon-fed an ideology by the band. Sure, there is a message behind each and every song, but they often have more than one meaning apart from it's original intended meaning. Parallels between David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. and El Cielo can be drawn. They both have this tranquil, dreamy quality to them that relies heavily upon the subconscious to fully gain an understanding of what's trying to be said. Mulholland Dr. depicts a young woman striving for identity, set against the backdrop of a town trying to slowly tear her apart -- both mentally and physically. I believe El Cielo is also about the quest for identity, and what we percieve may only be what we want to percieve, and not actual reality. Once we break through this mental barrier, life might be too much to bear, and the dismal consequences of trying to accept reality might not fare too well. Once El Cielo concludes, we are left feeling like the journey we've been taken on has still left us with questions unanswered, and that we'll have to revisit the album repeatedly to finally feel fulfilled and all questions have been answered.

Now on to the characteristics of the music itself. The production on El Cielo is absolutely amazing. The band obviously spent every hour in the studio paying astute attention to detail. There isn't a moment that passes where the sound becomes unlistinable, muddied or even slightly distorted. This allows for vocalist Gavin Hayes' "Dave Gahan meets Maynard Keenan" vocals to delicately float above the music and entrance the listener with every syallable that comes out of his mouth. The production values for each instrument (guitar, bass, drums/percussion and electronics/samples,) are stated exquisitely. Listening to this album is an absolute treat, and never becomes abrasive or daunting task. You could listen to this puppy on a pair of headphones with the volume cranked to 11 (obligatory Spinal Tap reference,) and you'd love every minute of it, even though your ear drums would probably become swollen and painful.

El Cielo is Dredg's second second LP, and the progression between their debut, Leitmotif and this one is absolutely stunning. It seems as though they've taken their progressive attitude towards song-writing within a melodic rock context and tweaked it to mastery. Everything has been improved upon, and to think that El Cielo is only their second album, the future bodes well for this young collective of forward-thinking musicians. Being on a label such as Interscope, I almost expected another Limp Bizkit offshoot before I was exposed to this album, and oh was I dred(g)fully wrong. El Cielo is a perfect companion to anyone's music collection and will more than please those looking for a little more substance in their melodic rock diet.

My top pick for 2002, and I'm sure a good number of people who already own this veritable masterpiece of melodic rock sensabilities intertwined with progressive rock undercurrents will agree. If there was only one album that I would recommend out of the crop of excellent releases that have surfaced during 2002, I'd have to go with El Cielo.

Perfection personified.