(Today TheMadIsraeli reviews the debut album of a band called P.D.P., which took form within the halls of Hollywood’s Musician’s Institute. The album was released last August by Heavyocity Records. P.D.P.’s official site is here.)
Two names. Pantera and Fear Factory.
P.D.P (no I don’t know what the name means, and they refuse to disclose what it means on top of that) is a band offering a nice reinterpretation of groove metal of the old Pantera school of thought. Bring in some industrial tinges, 8-string guitars, the willingness to be fast instead of relying on groove as a crutch, and the ability to write interesting riffs, and you’ve got yourself a helping of head-bobbing goodness I can get behind. This is their debut Mass Delusion.
The first song, “A Word to the Wise”, immediately delivers a succinct, classic Fear Factory styled opening with machine gun percussive attacks and solid, simple, hefty riffs. A nice dose of tasteful melodic shred is also injected courtesy of guitarist Dane Markanson and vocalist/guitarist Greg Harrison (a trend that continues throughout the whole album).
Songs like “Prototype Ares” and “Bleed Out”, which follow, showcase their slower, more groove-oriented side. Both songs utilize the massive low end of their 8-string guitars quite well to create a mammoth-sized, continuous punch to the nuts (I just know they are going to get pegged as some kind of Meshuggah copper simply because they execute riffs in the register of THALL (there is that word again)).
The next song, “Pile Driven”, mixes things up again, though. It’s a frantic thrash assault combined with wonky, angular riffs and a jarring chorus full of adrenaline-filled violence. The title track offers a plodding, low-end groove counterpointed by speedy, high-end runs that serve as a nice contrast.
The song that I estimate some people will give this band shit over is called “Die Mother Fucker”. I know what you’re thinking — we’ve entered nu-metal country now. The simplistic riff might also lead one to believe that, but don’t mistake the apparent immaturity here for a lack of quality. This song will grind and groove you into dust as much as any Meshuggah song.
“Twisted” is about as djenty as this band ever gets. It’s a to-the-point, accented, low-end punchy riff with the assorted signature, angular, high-end deviations. But to keep the song from being nothing but that, P.D.P. includes a very Death-like fast section.
“Weight of the World” is a song that could’ve been on an Unearth album. Propulsive, pulsating melodic riffs and pronounced beefy riffs set the song apart from a lot of what else is on the album. “Disposal” is a song that calls back to the rhythmic brutality of Fear Factory’s Mechanize, while “3:17” brings forth a more technical take on later Machine Head.
“Waste Away” emphatically explodes in frantic, melodic thrash fury, while combining that with low-end groove elements to create a satisfying second-to-last slab of brutality. The album ends with “Crawl”, a massive melodic instrumental that has an odd sense of stoicism in comparison to the rest of the album.
The production creates that machine-tight, somewhat tinny kind of sound you’d expect out of something with industrial influences. Thankfully, it’s never hard on the ears like some industrial-tinged albums can be, and I found myself liking the sound quite a bit. The vocals are a typical Meshuggah-esque mid-range bark, and the instrumental performances on the album are top-notch. This is a band who deserve more attention — they’re definitely worth checking out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRtcgAc0M-A