Album Review: Dissipate - 'Tectonics (EP)'

At first glance, Californian quartet Dissipate may appear to be just another deathcore group jumping on the djent bandwagon. After copping their new EP 'Tectonics', however, they actually prove themselves to be a strikingly original voice in a rapidly expanding genre.

Although guitarist Mike Gianelli is another in a long line of 8-string converts, to say that Dissipate are cashing in on the Meshuggah wave couldn't be further from the truth. These guys are loud, fast, technical, utterly confusing, and above all, unique.

The six track EP opens with 'Motion', a sludgy display of raucous technicality that instantly sets the tone for what's to come.

'Such is the Mind (of a Realist)' evokes 'Death of a Dead Day'-era SikTh, had they adopted the distinctive twang of the 8-string guitar.

It takes some time for structure to emerge from the chaos, and what's revealed is a complete disregard for the safety of a conventional verse/chorus framework. Each track is essentially a series of interconnected movements with barely discernible punctuation.

'Becoming the Mantis' reels about in a post-breakdown discombobulation, until the actual breakdown hits, providing something to latch onto before diving headfirst back into a mire of Psyopus-infused riffage.

In a moment of relief, 'Mech Fail' hits hard on the emotional front, before leading into that ubiquitous territory, the ambient interlude. But 'Fragments Lost' isn't just any old ambient interlude; it comes packed with production quirks that pop up all over the EP. Sonic experimentation plays an important role here, making the release anything but ordinary.

At times overly cerebral, at others downright brutal, 'Tectonics' provides an antidote to the clinical, homogeneous music saturating the current djent scene. The rhythmic foundation is often unstable, and really does feel like it's being deconstructed by the movement of tectonic plates.

This avant-garde take on djenty deathcore may not be for everyone, but the bottom line is that it's an intricately composed and refreshingly original EP.

1. Motion

2. Such is the Mind (of a Realist)

3. Becoming the Mantis

4. Mech Fail

5. Fragments Lost

6. Tectonics