Album Review: Dines X Heafy - Dines X Heafy
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
I normally have a bit of time for Matt Heafy. The driving force behind Trivium, he’s always seemed a decent person to me. He’s ridden the tag of next big thing, taken shit loads of abuse for some of his band’s output but continued to follow his own path. Maybe it’s because I don’t buy the likes of Metal Hammer anymore, but he also seems to be a lot less in the public domain these days. Jared Dines on the other hand, is a curiosity. Described as a guitar virtuoso and content creator, I understand that this is a musician who is very much post internet, creating a career on-line through YouTube, Facebook, and many other multimedia platforms. In fact, he’s the antithesis of everything I look for in my rock musicians. Dines’ YouTube channel has 2.88 million subscribers and over 680 million views. This means little to me. He has collaborated with everyone from Post Malone to Breaking Benjamin. His recorded output includes Rest, Repose, Daddy Rock, and Dissimilator. He made history as “the first YouTuber” to grace the cover of Guitar World magazine. He also filled in for Heafy in 2018.
This five-track E.P. is a collaboration between the two, released as would be expected via numerous streaming platforms. The goal according to Dines “was to write good songs and create some cool shit”. Dines recorded bass, drums, and guitars in Washington whilst Heafy added the vocals and selected solos from his Floridan home.
There are positives and negatives to tease out of this release. It’s solidly produced, heavy, at times blisteringly so. Heafy’s vocals switch between the raging metalcore delivery and his clean style which provides a richer and more melodious sound. The riffs fall hard and heavy, the choruses blend melodies, and the whole construction is fluid. The songs are inoffensive, but they don’t really fire the passions.
Opening song ‘Dear Anxiety’ is decent enough, with hooks that linger. The flashy guitar work is to be expected and is present in spades. ‘Can We Turn Back Yesterday’ is more routine, despite the frantic approach. A typical double tracking of Heafy’s vocals provide a rich and warm delivery which contrasts with the more aggressive roaring. ‘Dying At the Sight of the Rain’ begins with a more gentle approach, an almost rap style delivery with harmonies on the choruses. It’s another solid enough song but one that doesn’t remain long in the memory.
Track four ‘To Save Me from Myself‘ opens with retro NWOBHM flavoured style before moving to a much more modern stance. Another track that stands well enough on its own, the biggest problem it trying to seek out the passion and feeling. The concluding track ‘We Lost It All’ is for me the weakest of the lot, a real throw away combination of nu-metal and metalcore and something that just feels, well, ordinary.
The songs here feel a little sterile when what you want is dirt under the fingernails. Heafy’s rapid fire delivery leaves me just a little cold, and the one thing that this E.P. lacks is warmth. I’m in awe at the quality of the musicianship, and I can’t argue with the production. It’s evident from the approach that these two talented individuals have taken that this is an E.P. aimed at a specific market and I’m happy to not be within that and not to be included in that demographic. But when the talk is all about number of streams and hits, one must wonder where the heart and soul has gone.
