Dios
We Are Dios (2010)
Jesse Raub
Dios, unfortunately, is not a band made up of clones of Ronnie James Dio, Ã la "House of Cosbys." Which is a shame. That'd be a great angle.
Instead, it's a band of a few dudes who play late '60s psych rock that's been cut and mixed like late '60s dub. Which sounds pretty great, in theory. What ends up happening is that there's a loss of cognition halfway through a good amount of the tracks. It's like a stand-up comedian telling a joke that had a billion side tangents after you've already invested in the original subject.
What happened to the car your roommate was trying to sell you? (I'm looking at you, approximation of Dr. Pepper as performed by Patton Oswalt.)
Still, I can appreciate the process behind it (y'all know I'm a sucka for late '60s psych rock and late '60s dub), and the melodies are nice. I bet I'd appreciate all the reverb if i got stoned. At least Dios knows when to kick it up a notch with the electric guitar on "Stare at Wheel." The band hits their stride when they pick up the pace--it's scientifically proven, faster rhythms are toe-tappingly catchy. It's nice, too, when "Stare at Wheel" leads into "Tel Mi Theen," which is about as ballady as Dios is ready to get. The song lets the band settle into an acoustic groove with some noodling, a bit of a back beat and some heart that seems to be lacking in the rest of the album.
And that seems to be my biggest complaint about the whole album. There doesn't seem to be a true emotional content here--no connection between the lyrics, the singing and the music that shows these guys are really invested spiritually in this whole shindig. That's not to say that Dios are phonies, but they do leave a bit of passion to be desired.