Paroxysm Of Disgust
Dickless Tracy
•
December 15, 2014

One thing that a lot of Death Metal bands suffer from, for some reason, is serious underproduction on their albums, which results in all the instruments mashing together in a confusing, annoying and awful mess. Luckily, this is not the case with DICKLESS TRACY's music, as their new album "Paroxysm Of Disgust" sounds wonderful technically, as all instruments are clearly mixed and have a place within the sound. The only aspect I didn't like were the vocals, which at times sounded jarring and detracted from the quality of the other members of the band. They aren't bad, as death vocals go: they just don't seem to fit the style of music which is at a much higher pitch than the vocals can ever hope to reach.
Another problem becomes clear in the first track "Revenants" (which is a re-release from their first two albums, along with "Reincremation" and "The New Domination"). After introducing the album with a heavy, catchy riff and a good bass, the vocals kick in and suddenly the music seems slightly out of time. Whether this is my imagination or not, it certainly sounds strange and doesn't do much to change my standing views on death vocals in general. The short song somehow manages to end before the track itself ends, too; this is a problem that repeats itself later on in another re-release, "Reincremation". This is a fun, almost cheeky track as a result of the playful guitars, but the tone seems somewhat confused because of the demonic vocals.
"Ever Haunting Presence" follows, and it is yet another track I'm ambiguous about since the slow-tempo sections were fantastic, although the fast, whirlwind-speed sections left a lot to be desired after the instruments all meld into one noisy mess. This is an opinion that can be applied to the majority of the songs on this album, as the music quality really shines when the band allow themselves to slow down and take control of their instruments, such as in "Beautiful Yet Deformed". Here, the intro begins calmly and intelligently, before once again exploding into a mess throughout the midsection before slowing down again for a relaxed, almost acoustic-sounding outro.
This recurring issue is noticeable in pretty much every song: and that's not to say that this is bad music, because it isn't. It's just that throughout the record, I spent the entire time waiting for the band to slow down so that I could appreciate their skill again, and then marveling at how quickly they lost control and had to play as fast as possible again. The instrumental sections also stand out from the parts with vocals, as the guitars are allowed to come to the front and demonstrate themselves without being suppressed by unintelligible lyrics.
It probably sounds like I think this album sucks, and I'd hasten to point out that this isn't the case at all. It's just frustrating how good musicians can be lost to the temptation to play as fast as possible, without demonstrating their skill in a more listenable way. What's here is otherwise fairly standard Death Metal, and fans of the genre will know pretty much what to expect.
<
7 / 10
Good

"Paroxysm Of Disgust" Track-listing:
1. Revenants
2. Anathema (Possessed By Christ)
3. Through The Maze Of Lust
4. Reincremation
5. Ever Haunting Presence
6. Beautiful Yet Deformed
7. Realm Of Fools
8. Virus
9. Boneyard (Impetigo Cover)
10. The New Domination
11. Tomb Of Doom
Dickless Tracy Lineup:
Tomi Cepanec - Guitars, Vocals
Andrej Šepec - Guitars
Domen Majcen - Bass, Vocals
Ivan Cepanec - Drums
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