Vim Dicta; The: The Vim Dicta EP

Not your standard power trio, The Vim Dicta eschew the need for a bassist on this, their self titled debut EP, with singers Cori Elliott and Matt Tunney both doubling up on guitar. Elliott tackling lead vox, while Matt spits out the fiery fret burning solos. The trio are completed by the no slouch drumming of David Halicky, with his busy style and ever shshshshshshshshing ride cymbal and clickety-clattery hi-hat punctuating in a manner that means you never actually miss, or realise for that matter, that they forgot to hire a guitarist with only four thick strings.

An eclectic bunch they make, something that the four songs on this EP work hard to illustrate. Possibly too hard. With an overly multi-influenced retro, psych, space, prog rock sound, making the difference between the Zeppelin meets Hendrix, via Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci blast of "Lucky Strike" and the Hawkwind stumbling into a Mars Volta, via a bit more Jimmy Page of "Far Away", a little difficult to be fully impressed with. In fact at times, the jamming style veers just a little too far towards indulgent, when a pointed riff, or more stylised attack would have paid dividends. Oddly, even though of the four songs, only "Mezmer" clocks in at over 4:10, they all in their own way feel like over long workouts, with the sheer cacophony of ideas being a little tiring, even in the under three minutes of "Far Away". Packed in there however is an amazing amount to be impressed by, with some seriously blistering guitars and the seductive, yet when the need arises, abrasive vocals hitting home with force.

I'm convinced that The Vim Dicta will undoubtedly feel that I've completely missed the point here, and insist that the whole ethos of their music is to steer away from pigeon holing their sound, leaving them to continually spreading their outlook. Something which is to be commended. But that doesn't stop my over riding feeling towards this EP being one of frustration that for every killer strike, there's a yawn inducing meander. With the slightest hint of focus, The Vim Dicta could be awesome; they just need to keep their eye on the prize.

Track Listing
1. Lucky Strike
2. Mezmer
3. Your Man
4. Far Away

Added: August 18th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Vim Dicta Online
Hits: 1973
Language: english

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