Review: “DCX2” by Diamond Construct

Back in July it was announced that the Australian dream team were back giving a helping hand to Diamond Construct with Lance Prenc (Polaris, Gravemind, Void Of Vision) recording, mixing and mastering this new EP and Colin Jeffs (ex-Aversions Crown, Tongues) directing a music video for “Psychosis”. The band, a Tech-Metal infused Metalcore quartet, comprising vocalist Kynan Groundwater, guitarist Braden Groundwater, drummer Adam Kilpatrick and bassist Alex Ford hail from Taree, a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, about 200 miles from Sidney and have been long time favourites of ours. After all, we gave their 2019 self titled sophomore effort 9/10 in review when it appeared 3 years after 2016 debut “Event Horizon“…

…the self titled record has got a fair amount of the Gloom genre tied up in it with hints of the sounds of genre pioneers Loathe being an influence and this new record is no different with opener “Generic” having angst laden Nu-Metal inspirations with Groundwater spitting lines like “Just get the f*** away from me, and leave me alone” in cyclic fashion. As a track it comes off like a mid album cut that has all the groove but not the gut punch that is usually reserved for an opening move, it’s solid but lacks a certain sparkle to give it that wow factor. The guitars are warped and sinister, the music is slightly unhinged but it’s not until the Emmure esq riffs of “Enigma” which is full of bounce and verve that things really get going. If the tracks were swapped over in the play order then it would make all the difference. Groundwater blends the vocals incredibly well, cutting between uncleans, spoken word and even some cleaner parts that have sing-a-long ability during the staccato riff broken chorus and the band tempo shift throughout this bulldozer of a track to great effect. The aforementioned “Psychosis” has some rapping that bursts into ferocious roars, the programmed underpinning to the track having that haunting bad acid trip nausea sound effects down to a fine art, while the guitars are chunky and dense. If you’d given it to someone standalone and said it was a remix of a Diamond Construct track, then they wouldn’t be surprised, not that the tracks are that far away from the self titled albums ones, just that the guitars are less prominent in the mix as the band try a few left field moves. The eerie “Scythe” offers more in that department, though doesn’t have the DJent power, instead opting for extended programmed segments before slower, building riffs, through to a mid track breakdown segment which is seriously good. Overall this new EP is something of an expansion of the Diamond Construct sound, perhaps a clue as to the direction of the next full length with less reliance on some of the DJent moments of the past and moving further into the Gloom culture [8/10]

Track listing

1. Generic
2. Enigma
3. Psychosis
4. Scythe

“DCX2” by Diamond Construct is out now via Greyscale Records