'Nautilus'
Serbian industrialists
Dreddup may not be much of a household name, but with 20 years and several studio albums to their name they certainly
don't lack experience. As the band's 5th studio album
'Nautilus' can attest. Dreddup inhabit the hard, stomping rhythmic
end of the industrial spectrum favouring repeated bludgeoning impact
over standard dance beats. But that doesn't make them any less
catchy.
Opening with 'Awake'
the band drag-out the atmospheric intro beyond a comfortable length
to the point where the ambient synths and shouted vocals begin to
resemble an early effort by Laibach. However the likes of 'Train To
Madness', 'Fire Up The Palnet', 'Non-Negotiable', 'Face Off' and
'Nautilus' demonstrate an appeal that brings the band out of the
oddity realms and into serious dance floor potential. The catchy synth
leads, easy tempo and almost Rob Zombie style construction makes them
very accessible.
The band is at it's
most interesting though with the left of centre tracks dotted about
such as the afore mentioned 'Awake' as well as 'Hospital For The
Broken', 'Cold Eyes' and 'Two Of Us'. Making use of martial beats,
oppressive atmospheres and jarring, sometimes glitchy synths.
As attention-grabbing
as the track list is, the production isn't as good as it could be.
The whole album is held back by a mix which becomes swamped and
muffled very easily. The vocals never sound distinct and the use of
distortion means a lot of elements blend into each other quite often.
It's a shame as there is an awful lot of good song writing present on
the album.
The band have the
experience and the song writing talent to craft an interesting album
that would work well for those who frequent dance floors as well as
those who like their industrial a little more experimental. Its a
fine line that only unravels in the mix. But nonetheless this is a
solid offering.