October 8, 2002 - El Cielo

Two weeks after my last release and over three years since their debut "Leitmotif", Dredg released their second album "El Cielo" on October 8, 2002. Dredg play perhaps a lighter version of the same style of alternative rock as their debut and like last album's several "Movement"s, this album has several "Brushstroke"s. The members were particularly inspired by Salvador Dali's painting "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate One Second Before Awakening" and this is a concept album about that painting! Let's check out the next chapter of Dredg!

The album begins with "Brushstroke: dcbtfoabaaposba", which is an acronym for the long name of the Dali painting, and it's just under a minute for this intro track that has a bunch of psychedelic noises. It leads nicely into the the next song "Same Ol' Road" where Drew Roulette drives things with a cool bass riff and Dino Campanella plays a catchy drum beat. Gavin Hayes sings a nice verse overtop and his high voice sounds very smooth. Midway through the verse Mark Engles finally joins in with some cool guitar to complete this solid main riff, then after a couple goes they reach the loud chorus with Engles playing some decently heavy guitars. I like the quiet-to-loud dynamic they have going on here and this is a pretty solid way to really kick off the album. He song ends with some trippy noises that roll right into the beginning of track 3, titled "Sanzen", and it builds nicely into a pretty cool main riff. Engles plays a catchy stop-and-start guitar riff to lead the way, Campanella adds another solid drum beat and Hayes sings a decent verse overtop. Once again the chorus has some much louder guitars, but it's much more straightforward than this offbeat and interesting verse. After a couple rounds things go in a completely new direction with a completely different, but also cool guitar riff by Engles sounding solid. Hayes holds lots of long notes in this part, then the loud drops off suddenly and we're left with a catchy acoustic guitar riff by Hayes and a slow, catchy drum beat by Campanella. Engles guitar fits the mood at first, but it nicely ramps up until it smoothly returns to the chorus to finish things off. Up next is our next stroke, "Brushstroke: New Heart Shadow", and Hayes plays a light guitar riff while Campanella continues to play some solid drums in the background. Engles adds some trippy guitar overtop and this stroke is a little longer at a minute and a half and it makes for a decent interlude. Track 5 on the album is just a picture of a triangle, but most releases just have the title as "Triangle". It's got an echo-y drum beat by Campanella that sounds decent and some droning guitars that almost sound like a strings section! Hayes sings some droning vocals that match the mood well, then they shift nicely to a more hard rock new riff and Engles plays all kinds of good guitar in this part. Words can't properly keep up with all the changes in this song, but it's all done pretty smoothly and it had my attention the wbile way through. Up next is "Sorry But It's Over" and they kick right into a heavy riff that hits pretty hard (and pretty cool!), but then very quickly shift to a softer verse with Hayes singing another typical verse with lots of long-held notes and Engles playing some offbeat and interesting guitar. The heavy guitars return for the chorus and it's another nice dynamic between verse and chorus. The last minute is a new part with Engles playing some cool guitar, but Hayes is just "yeah yeeeeahh yeahh"ing overtop and I'm not big on that. Track 7 is "Convalescent" and it's got a pretty catchy stop-and-start main riff as Hayes sings a nice verse overtop. It's another loud and decent chorus, but the verse is just so bouncy and pop-y! It's another very smooth tune that was solid the whole way through. The next track is "Brushstroke: Walk In The Park" and Campanella is the one playing the piano as he drives this interlude with some pretty epic piano! There's some sad but epic strings that join the mix and things sound very epic indeed as Campanella plays some cool, slightly sad piano the whole way through. Track 9 is called "Eighteen People Living In Harmony" and Campanella returns to his catchy drum beats, Hayes sings a typical(ly decent) verse and Engles comes in with some loud guitar that sounds pretty cool. Engles does a great job of switching between cool lighter guitar and sections of cool really loud guitars, and while I of course like the heavier stuff, it's another well-done dynamic. They end things on a bit of a trippy note as things seem to just devolve at the end until we move into "Scissor Lock" which has a slow, quiet main riff. Hayes sings in his usual style, Engles plays some slow, light guitar and the rhythm section nicely rounds out this slow but interesting riff. There's some intermittent talking in the background that mentions "auditory hallicinations" several times and things sound decent, but they never really come alive with a louder part on this one. Track 11 is "Brushstroke: Reprise" and Campanella plays the same catchy drum beat as the second track "Same Ol' Road" while Engles plays some slow, droning guitar and Hayes sings a bit of the song as well. Hayes ends up taking the lead with a little acoustic guitar that sounds alright and this is another decent one of the brushstrokes. The next track is titled "Of The Room" and Campanella plays a really interesting and cool drum beat on this one, Engles plays a distorted and cool main guitar riff and everything sounds very intriguing for sure, along with some typical long-held vocals by Hayes. The chorus is nice and loud and Engles plays some pretty cool guitar and this is definitely one if the better songs on the album for me, everything sounds pretty sweet! Track 13 is the final brushstroke, "Brushstroke: An Elephant In The Delta Waves", and it's got some cool distorted mandolin that sounds pretty interesting, a cool drum beat by Campanella and some female vocals that sound almost tribal. It's another interesting little interlude and it leads right into "It Only Took A Day" which has all kinds of distorted guitars by Engles that mesh nicely together. Once the guitar really kicks in Hayes starts to sing a solid verse and this pretty heavy guitar continues in the verse and chorus and sounds pretty good. Once it got going, this was a pretty cool tune! Track 15 is "Whoa Is Me" and it's got some trippy trumpet-like horns overtop a light and smooth backdrop with Hayes singing a slow verse to match the mood. As they like to do the chorus is louder with some nice heavier guitars by Engles, then they nicely fall off to return to the verse. After a couple rounds the end of the song has Campanella playing some nice light piano that works well with the trippy horns and this takes us pretty much to the end, where we a voice speak a few lines that seems very random and out of place. The final song on the album is "The Canyon Behind Her" and Campanella plays some more light but cool piano in this quiet opening. There's a woman speaking in a language I can't place, then they suddenly slam into a heavy and loud riff with some fast guitars by Engles that turns out to be the chorus. The verse is much quieter with some cool contributions from everyone: a greatittle drum beat, some cool bass, some epic light guitar and some solid singing. It's another great contrast between verse and chorus and they are both great at what they're doing. This is one of the better songs on the album in my opinion, but it does end with an "epic" choir that takes us all the way to the end of the album, but I find while it's okay, it takes away from what was a pretty cool closer!

That is the end of "El Cielo" and I thought it was a solid album by Dredg! It flowed very nicely the whole way through and they really nailed their new style of lighter, interesting verses and loud choruses. Even though their debut album "Leitmotif" is heavier at times, I think this album is a more complete effort overall and I actually give it the slight edge! This is also the last we'll hear from Dredg in my library as I only have these first two albums. It's a shame they continued to get even lighter!