Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
The Dirty Nil’s last album – the delightful, light-hearted and colourful ‘Free Rein To Passions’ – is the audio equivalent of a pick-me-up. Striking a divine balance between fun and fragile, the record served as a double-edged sword; a reminder to take care of yourself and not take life quite so seriously. Their new album changes the pace a tad. ‘The Lash’, even from looking at the cover, has a very different palette. Though this may feel like your typical The Dirty Nil album, lemme tell you. It isn’t.
Right from the opener ‘Gallop Of The Hounds’, it’s very clear that the music is as epic and powerful as it always has been. With huge guitars that somewhere between rock and thrash, the pounding groove elevates the towering chorus and gets the record off to a strong start. Following track ‘Fail In Time’ is another slice of the same, delivering fist-pumping riffs while vocalist Luke Bentham steals the show with his captivating voice. Examine the lyrics, though, and you’ll begin to see where the difference is. Their vulnerability is still there, but it’s laced with pessimism, negativity and despair. The music still appears colourful, but there’s a lot of shadows being cast onto them.
‘Rock And Roll Band’ explores the realities of being in a modern touring band, shining a light on the industry bigwigs making more money than the artists they exploit. ‘Hero Narrative’ is a towering rock banger, being candid about relationships falling apart. ‘Spider Dream’ is haunting; ebbing and flowing through some beautiful passages as Bentham shares his inner burdens. It feels almost like the album is like a therapy session. Perhaps this is why the colours seem less bright; the depths of one’s soul can be a pretty shadowy place.
For all the doom and gloom, though, there are some incredible highlights. Album closer ‘I Was A Henchman’ is a very punchy way to end a record, a scathing dissection of abandoning religion. ‘That Don’t Mean It Won’t Sting’ is delicious too, armed to the teeth with Weezer-like groove while Bentham muses over emotional wounds. ‘This Is Me Warning Ya’ is the show-stealer, though. Serving as a mid-record breather, it’s a stripped back heart-wrencher with some of the most beautiful lyrics of their career. Written about making mistakes and hindsight, the line “I chased a ray of sun into armageddon” might be a career highlight.
This is almost like a version of the band from a parallel universe. The vibe is darker and the lyrical outlook is bleaker, but they still deliver that adrenaline surge that got us all hooked in the first place. They’ve leaned even further into the sound they established on ‘Free Rein To Passions’ and created something more mature, more anthemic and designed for big rooms. The album is over in thirty minutes which feels like too soon, but it’s all the more reason to press that repeat button. Their best record so far? It could well be.
DAVE STEWART
Right from the opener ‘Gallop Of The Hounds’, it’s very clear that the music is as epic and powerful as it always has been. With huge guitars that somewhere between rock and thrash, the pounding groove elevates the towering chorus and gets the record off to a strong start. Following track ‘Fail In Time’ is another slice of the same, delivering fist-pumping riffs while vocalist Luke Bentham steals the show with his captivating voice. Examine the lyrics, though, and you’ll begin to see where the difference is. Their vulnerability is still there, but it’s laced with pessimism, negativity and despair. The music still appears colourful, but there’s a lot of shadows being cast onto them.
‘Rock And Roll Band’ explores the realities of being in a modern touring band, shining a light on the industry bigwigs making more money than the artists they exploit. ‘Hero Narrative’ is a towering rock banger, being candid about relationships falling apart. ‘Spider Dream’ is haunting; ebbing and flowing through some beautiful passages as Bentham shares his inner burdens. It feels almost like the album is like a therapy session. Perhaps this is why the colours seem less bright; the depths of one’s soul can be a pretty shadowy place.
For all the doom and gloom, though, there are some incredible highlights. Album closer ‘I Was A Henchman’ is a very punchy way to end a record, a scathing dissection of abandoning religion. ‘That Don’t Mean It Won’t Sting’ is delicious too, armed to the teeth with Weezer-like groove while Bentham muses over emotional wounds. ‘This Is Me Warning Ya’ is the show-stealer, though. Serving as a mid-record breather, it’s a stripped back heart-wrencher with some of the most beautiful lyrics of their career. Written about making mistakes and hindsight, the line “I chased a ray of sun into armageddon” might be a career highlight.
This is almost like a version of the band from a parallel universe. The vibe is darker and the lyrical outlook is bleaker, but they still deliver that adrenaline surge that got us all hooked in the first place. They’ve leaned even further into the sound they established on ‘Free Rein To Passions’ and created something more mature, more anthemic and designed for big rooms. The album is over in thirty minutes which feels like too soon, but it’s all the more reason to press that repeat button. Their best record so far? It could well be.
DAVE STEWART