I missed the chance to review My Diligence‘s last album The Matter, Form and Power, but for the last two years, it has been on constant rotation. My Diligence stands out for me from the hordes of post-metal on the market, due to their lighter take on post-metal that blends in grunge and what I can only describe at this moment as Pallbearer epicness. The result is an uplifting listen, rather than something that could drag your mood down or keep it low. Soaring vocal crescendos meet tides of furious guitar chords, seeped in fuzz, and wrapped up with thundering layers of percussion.
DEATH.HORSES.BLACK. does darken the mood a bit, yet still has their signature sound embedded throughout. The opening half of the album is more like their previous album, with huge vocals and some incredible riffs that blossom and grow out of nowhere. After an interlude that is truly too long, the album resumes with a darker, slower nature to it, the band edging more towards their sludgy and doomy tendencies.
One thing to really drive home is to play this album loud. A lot is going on in the mix, and low volumes do make it suffer; something not truly uncommon in the genre, but worth mentioning. Blasted on speakers, this album blows you away with its epic scale, and when you look at who mastered it, you see why. Raphaël Bovey’s credits include Gojira, Dirge, Monkey3, and Abraham, so you get an idea of what you’re in for when you spin the record.
The title tracks open the album and showcase the diverse quality of My Diligence‘s songwriting. The nasty opening track “Death” opens with a harrowing post-rock riff that pervades throughout most of the track, before the band go into overdrive with monumental riffs to close it out. The vocals are really good in this track, both heavies and cleans. “Horses” sees the band blend more grunge and shoegaze into the track, paired against a winding guitar arpeggio. Released as one of their singles for a damn good reason, this track shows the band at their most epic, with amazing twists and turns in the music to lead to stunning peaks.
Somehow, “Black” has even dirtier riffs, the tones employed create a wall of sound that completely chews you up. I can see the band playing these three back-to-back live, and by the end, I can see the pit going absolutely mental to the closing breakdowns to each song.
The band drop an eleven-minute monster after the interlude, which I consider to be one of the best they’ve released. It has their core sound and a lot of experimentation, all of which sound organic and complimentary. I like that after four albums they continue to push the envelope in the right way and not simply just jumping on bandwagons.
Following that the band do lighten up with one of their most grandiose tracks yet, with huge post-rock riffs lifting your mood. The final track has some amazing technical twists in it that completely change the dynamics of the song, really driving home how clever this band is at songwriting, and delivering on the complexities in their music.
My Diligence‘s current tour with DVNE shows they are in good company to develop their sound and fanbase even more, hitting the audiences they deserve with quality like this. The band has a great library of albums to delve into now, so for anyone who hasn’t tried so far, there is no better time.
