Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion

Dredg has a lot of good ideas. A lot of artists or bands don’t ever get to a point in their careers where it’s evident down to the packaging that they think about the complete image of their music. Right off, the impressive thing about this California band is that there’s a clear theme that moves through everything surrounding their newest album, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion.

This is no amateur act. Dredg already has three other studio albums under their belt, a handful of EPs, a live album, and even a couple of DVDs. Beyond that, two of the members have been close friends for years. Since forming in 1993, Dredg have had a lot of time to really explore music and figure out how they want to present themselves. Therefore, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion is a great example of well-constructed artistry.

The sound of the recordings matches the imagery well. They’ve really made use of creating the semblance of space on a record to create atmosphere. Listening through the album, it’s hard to imagine sitting in the middle of some sort of hall or more open area. The arrangement and tracking give each song a lifted, airy feel, no matter whether the lyrical content is supposed to be up or down. In some cases, this really works in Dredg’s favor, because it’s easy to get lost in the reverb of the instruments and vocals playing against one another and overlook some of the weaker phrases and metaphors. “Information,” for instance, is ultimately forgettable lyrically, but the drums are so nicely tracked and the arrangement so cleanly executed, that it’s a rewarding listen. They have a penchant for generic statements about the future and being responsible for the state of the world, but, thankfully, those aren’t usually meant to be the driving force of a song.

Dredg is a big picture band. Playing the album more than once all the way from beginning to end is necessary to really start picking up on the details (the elements of electronic manipulation, random sound effects, all of the harmonies in the vocals, etc) because their speciality is making those thing fit together so well. They manage some really infectious choruses, too, thanks in large part to Gavin Hayes’s bright, smooth vocals (“Give It Up”), and although the music is pretty solidly progressive rock, tracks like “Mourning This Morning” prove that they can make it funky just as easily as they can write soaring rock tracks. Though sometimes the parts themselves may seem unspectacular, this band knows how to deliver a solid product, overall.

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Tagged as: California, Progressive Rock

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