As is the way with female-fronted hard rock bands, in a sea of bearded, tattooed men, the first thing you notice about Die So Fluid is the sultry gothy good looks of voluptuous front woman Grog. The marketing people aren’t blind to this either, plastering tour merchandise and magazine articles with her image: DSF’s 2010 calendar, featuring “13 zazzy [sic] as hell images of Grog posing with sexy bass guitars!” anyone?
But Grog is far from just a pretty face, possessing a powerful, feminine voice and accomplished bass skills. ‘The World Is Too Big for One Lifetime‘ is her third full length album with guitarist Drew Richards and drummer Al Fletcher, forming DSF back in in 2001 from the ashes of alternative female act Feline and metal duo Ultraviolet.
Since then the band have built a steady fanbase for their incredibly catchy, rock-pop constructions (Grog’s musical profile rising and hardcore credibility plummeting with her appearance on Top Of The Pops playing piano for Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne’s 2003 re-release of ‘Changes’). As bestsellers in the alternative music chart in Germany, ‘The World…‘ could well be the album to fully propel DSF into the public conscience.
Lead single ‘Mercury’ is a fast-paced stomp through hard rock into the most accessible end of metal territory, via Grog’s melodic and impassioned vocals. Featuring the chorus “Do good things come to those who wait / Or do they wait forever? / We made a pact in blood and tears / And we shall not be severed”, the single buries itself deep within the listener’s mind and refuses to budge for days, the riff and fluctuating vocals working in perfectly catchy harmony. The record is a heady cocktail of lite-metal and poppy riffs, married together via Grog’s adaptable voice, switching from the punky barking of ‘How Vampires Kiss’ to uplifting soaring vocals on ‘Storm’, a maelstrom of influences, tempos and musical styles at which her singing reaches its most mesmerising.
Therein lies much of the appeal of DSF, their knack for merging such differing musical genres without selling either short is a rare beast. Catchy hooks are layered over pulsing basslines and moderated with swift, measured drumming whilst remaining wholly listenable, and without losing momentum. It’s original, it’s hard hitting, and it’s the kind of music you wonder how the hell you lived without.
‘The World‘ is an album of alternative rock anthems delivered with punchy aplomb by a real power trio, diverse and adaptable enough to gain many fans of many differing alternative styles. Spit-flecked rabble-rousers work alongside gentler, emotional numbers whilst continuing to deliver the hook-laden, water-tight musicianship from opener ‘Figurine’ to the hidden track at the tail-end of closer ‘Sound In Colour’. Featuring Grog’s classically trained piano skills and a level of emotion bordering on Within Temptation’s more refined balladry; it ends the record on an unexpectedly delicate note. Summer 2010’s alternative soundtrack has arrived.
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