Review of Leitmotif by Rohan Kohli

dredg's Leitmotif is an album that will always be a part of my "If were stranded on an island, what 3 CD's would you take?" list. Never before has the definition of music been changed for me by listening to one album. With Leitmotif, I realized music is not 9 guys up on stage screaming obscenities and detuning their guitars to the point where it sounds like mud. Music is dredg. dredg makes music art--true art. My entire view of music has changed, and thankfully so, because of dredg. The passion with which they play their instruments, their creativity, melody, and profound lyricism have helped dredg to create a masterpiece.

One review of Leitmotif has proclaimed that dredg will do to the music scene what Nirvana did. That they will change the rock scene. I don't believe so. The people of today don't want to have complex music. They don't want to hear instrumentals. They want to hear music that is "easy" to listen to such as Blink 182. There is nothing wrong with Blink 182, but after a while, it starts to get redundant. I do not believe people will be willing to accept this form of music, but for those who are ok with not conforming to the standards of society, a jewel will be found.

Leitmotif is basically one song, going through dramatic twists and turns as it progresses. The most is gleaned from the album when sitting quietly in a dark place with headphones, concentrating only on the music.

The one thing I'd have to say I might disagree with on the CD is the level and quality of the vocals. Not the quality of the vocal chords, but perhaps a better microphone would be helpful. It would also be better to have the vocal mic turned up a bit--but this is dredg, not the standard band. Perhaps that is the way they intended for it to be. Whatever the situation, I'm willing to listen to whatever they do and accept what they present, for if I did not, I would be like all the Limp Bizkit fans. Exploring new techniques and ideas is the key here: Leitmotif is not your standard CD.

97/100