Metal from the Czech Republic is what we have today for our listening pleasure kids. The band is DYMYTRY, and despite being new to my ears and eyes, these guys have been on the road for a while. Their first release was in 2010 and they used to sing in their language, I heard. Now, singing in English, they are trying to expand their musical borders with their latest release Five Angry Man.  The band uses masks ala SLIPKNOT and seems to be very theatrical. Let’s see how angry they are. Not angry at all as per the first tune of the album, “Enemy List”. A softer kind of metal I would say despite the scary masks. The tune is a good hard rock well played and produced but misses the uniqueness since the sound proposed is something we have heard many times before. We follow with”Everything Is Black” and now we can feel some meat in the bone. Double drum madness from drummer Miloš Meier and a good guitar presence. Catchy chorus and a nice melody. The band brings some metal to their music without losing the softness. Much better but not angry enough for my taste.

The next one is “Wake Me Up (Before We Die)”. We missed the go go unfortunately. The band has a strong keyboard presence with a non credited keyboardist.This song aims much more to the commercial side giving hints of electronic music and raves. Not an ingredient for metal in my recipe book. Just because you added distorted guitar, it does not mean it turns magically to a good metal tune. We reach “Legends Never Die” and we do go back to some form of symphonic metal. This is a kind of a ballad with an energetic bridge and chorus and a sticky chorus. If the band concentrates on this kind of output keeping some consistency, the potential becomes clear. This is a song that could be big in a live setting. We reach the midway point with “Three Steps To Hell” that starts with a nice guitar riff by the 2 good guitar players in the band, Jiří Urban and Jan Görgel. The song is another softer output and this is fine. Give credit where credit is due. They know how to write a decent song, however it misses that extra spark, that unforgettable chorus, or a captivating melody. Unfortunately the songs are too general to my ears. If you want to get more fans, the masks themselves will not work.

The next one is “In Death We Trust '' that starts with a nice soft melody before the heaviness takes over. This is the kind of tune I want to hear in every track. Soft mixed with heavy yes, but a good quality heavy. “Dead Living Dead” is another good one despite still sounding general. Interesting guitar riff with a tiny that part reminds me of MASTODON’s “Blood And Thunder”. Good arrangement and a variety of different moods. The best of the album so far. The 8th tune from this 10 tune album is “1939”. This one talks about the invasion of then Czechoslovakia by the Nazis. Another good tune with a nice lyric and melody reminding of some hard times. The lyric asks no more 1939. You can add 1940 to 1945 as well. We get close to the end with “The Revenant” and it seems the album finally got some consistency between the songs. This is a slower metal with touches of, I dare say, NICKELBACK (that I actually  kinda like) all over it. The vocalist Alen Ljubić has good pipes despite not having a great range on high notes.

We end our journey with  the song that gives the album its name “Five Angry Men” and they decide to rap-metal like LINKIN PARK. Ok, that works as well, but now you are shooting everywhere. Before I forget, let me also mention the good presence of bass player Artur Mikhailov that does not compromise. The album could live without tracks 1,3 and 10 and I think the remaining are a good effort. The band’s image also gives an impression of violence, terror and craziness that is not reflected in the songs at all. Unless they have a huge theatrical show, I do not think the songs themselves would entertain much in a live setting. I would dare to say that the band needs to define who they really are and stop using the same old formulas already used by countless bands.