DAX RIGGS
7 SONGS FOR SPIDERS
7 Songs For Spiders is Dax's 3rd solo album and 1st in 15 years. Dax was the original frontman for the sludge rock band Acid Bath in 90s and fronted several other bands in short stints like Agents of Oblivion, Deadboy & The Elephantmen.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: A lot of times you read about how the music business has just been beating people down and the politics of bands and the like but Dax has always been one of those guys except for his very public battle with Acid Bath who has sidestepped and just been able to make good music. I suspect there has always been something missing with that "under the radar, it's really good" moniker. While 7 songs may not have found the holy grail for Dax you certainly shift right into a comfortable spot that allows you to be mesmerized by him for a good long bit. 7 Songs is one of those samples, nearly a concept album that resonates to the heart of a blending of natural genres that play well together, and his band do the same blend and play well together.
1. deceiver - is a great example of how well Dax finds a comfortable stump to hide behind and play the mystic omnipresent voice behind a bellowing of power chords that shift into almost an anthem-like bravado. Within the 1st minute, you are captured in a time, place, and philosophy that carries these deepening souls of despair but with a rare tinge of optimism or maybe more aptly arrogance.
2. Sunshine Felt The Darkness Smile - This is a whole new experience wrapped in the same tortilla. I describe going from "deceiver to Sunshine" as discovering there's guacamole in the burrito after all you just had to chew on it a little bit to get there. This soothing pseudo ballad flip that opens up the gushing wound left over by deceiver, scratches a real itch that we might be in a concept within a concept, both musically and emotionally. It also gives us a great look at the vocal range of Riggs which is quite vast and surprising. The other truly unique surprise is his composition skills. This plays like a Southern Gothic lullaby at times and feathers in this real creepy essence amongst a beautiful vibrato backdrop. Sunshine is a tad too long because it never shifts out of 2nd gear but it is beautiful for what it is.
3. Even The Stars Fall - A grinder like this one shows off the power of Kane Cormier's powerful bass strokes here, which really anchor this song's power. There is also this nice bridge in which the guitar work leans on these neat scratchy chords echoing over the pacing. It leads to one of the few very conventionally structured songs here wherein you have a lead, a rhythm, a bridge, and a chorus. This is one of the few tracks that has a very stoic, commercial appeal but ultimately the subtext of the lyrics and background guitar scratches pivots enough to a more angelic vibration that again feels like yet another concept within a concept.
4. Blues For You Know Who - There is a nice, cinematic crescendo from "Even Stars" where it lays a thick, warm blanket that carries a heavy, sunk into this ethereal psychedelic, trip. Dax hits his range and tries to go just that much higher and this time it doesn't work, a couple weird cracks in his voice. Again this is one of those songs that after 2 and a half minutes doesn't shift much, becomes moot, and overstays a tad. Though there is a nice and rare guitar solo layered in the background at the end.
5. Pagan Moon - Here is my favorite track on the album, there is a stalking and brooding tempo that fades in with this nice lyrical impression that at first gives us this sci-fi, western feel that again has this cinematic quality to it. There is a really cool moment wherein the music stops for literally 2 seconds and Riggs' vocals carry us into another unique chorus, almost like a stutter step. Mixed in with another great solo that layers over some acoustics strumming in the guitars, a very neat composition that gives this some uniqueness to the previous tracks, even though the sludge elements are still driving the tempo.
6. Ain't That Darkness - A nice milder tempo here leads into another great pair of riffs that kind of ramp up the back end of this song. There is a "sameness" here though that permeates between Even The Stars and up to this track. This one is not helped by a lack of lyrical spitfire, a little too repetitive one verse same as the first-ness. This is the only track that becomes a hard skip for me. I love the desert, mushroom trip ambiance here but it's just too much of the same thing over and over.
7. Graveyard Soul - Finally a strong up-tempo start that settles into the more sludge-ish appeal of Dax Riggs. This up-tempo plays to more conventional timings and adds a more truly repetitive but catchy chorus. This is a strong way to end an album that felt almost as if it was fading into the night. This strikes me more like we end at dawn and time to wake up. There is a bridge in the middle that fades the music and where Dax is fist pumping and raging, then the music sweeps back in and his raging becomes a nice tempo that pounds out into the final chorus.
The talent of Dax Riggs where you have this Sonic Youth meets Helmet sound flipped on the slow speed as if they were narrating an Anne Rice Novel that really acquiesces into moments of rarified air where Dax fearlessly channels Chris Cornell and Jeff Beck, sometimes in the same song, brings a challenge to review. There is so much to love and absorb here, so much that is great. Yet it does stray into same ole same old which requires patience, that pays those who utilize it off, but it is a tough almost 28 minutes together from track to track. Still within a shuffle rotation there will be some great songs from this album that will allow my metal blood to still flow and yet calm my nerves in the same composition. Like a good magic trick I am in awe of some of the things accomplished in 7 Songs.
YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE ALBUM FOR YOURSELF ON BANDCAMP HERE:
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