Dryline - Reach For The Surface
by Troy aka FreakOfNature

This is a good time for heavy music lovers. The line between all the different types of Metal is begining to blur and this band is a perfect example of that. This band isn't Hardcore, nor are they MetalCore although they use many elements from both as well as Scream-O and even some very nice jazzy and acoustic pieces. I honestly don't see how anyone into heavier music can dislike these guys. There's something here for everyone.

Alright, let's talk a little bit about this CD. Produced, Engineered and Mixed by the amazing D. Braxton Henry and then mastered by Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Masters in Memphis, this album is polished like very few others I've encountered since I've started doing reviews. I have a serious problem with Vox quite often when reviewing this type of music. It's due to my love of variety. Aaron Kirby is the exception to this rule. He goes from Raw and Brutal to a nice Talk/Sing approach that I really like. He even does a good job with JUST the Raw vox of varying the range to keep it from getting boring. REALLY nice work. On a personal note, Aaron's about as nice of a guy as you'll ever meet too. I LOVE Bass players that play the Bass like a Bass and not a guitar!!!! Daniel Hogeland only spends about half of his time running the same lines as the guitar, the other half he's more focused on creating his own lines or hanging with the Bass Drum which is what I personally think a Bass player SHOULD do. The drumming is very solid and almost mechanical from Richard Musser. This isn't a bad thing for a drummer. They are counted on to keep perfect time and he does a killer job of that. Double Bass is quite impressive as well. Guitars from Greg Scott and Joe Gill are next. I so love guitars. I REALLY love dual guitar players and even MORE do I love dual guitar players who do their own thing. These guys are amazing. There's more harmonizing on this album than any other album I've heard in a long time. More solos would be nice but other than that, THIS is how dual guitars are supposed to be. I need to mention one more thing that makes this band so amazing and that's Joe Gill's backup Vox. He adds an amazing amount of melody to some of the vocal lines and it's REALLY nice to hear something like that from such a heavy band.

You know, it doesn't matter HOW much I love a band, I can almost ALWAY come up with some form of criticism. But not here. Not really. I love everything about this band. I loved them when they first started out and they've done nothing but gotten a million times better since. Like I mentioned previously, the only thing I'd like to see more of is Guitar Solos, but that's because I am and always will be an 80's guy at heart. GREAT album guys. You make Dallas, TX proud!

I'd like to personally take a moment to thank Paul Bassman of Zero-Sum recordings for getting me an advance copy of the CD. It hasn't left my CD player since I got it!

Website: http://www.dryline.com