Diesto High As the Sun

In the world of Black Sabbath worship, minor variations and stylistic offshoots are a plenty. Rumor has it, Portland's Diesto used to sound more like a AmRep noise rock trio, but with High As the Sun as evidence, all signs point to an expansive sludge/doom lean. Given that, it's almost easier to characterize their Sabbath-influenced niche by eliminating a number of offshoots into which they do not snuggly fit. Across Tundras' Americana-infused sludge-rock comes to mind, but Diesto doesn't share the same soulful singer-songwriter mentality, instead focusing on more winding, inter-instrument play. On the other end of the slow and heavy spectrum is Little Rock's Rwake, and although there is an overlap in sprawling song structures and plodding tempo, Diesto's tunes aren't nearly as desolate and harrowing. And despite the fact that the terms 'sludge' and 'stoner' will certainly be applicable, classifying Diesto simply as a big-riff band would be inaccurate; many of their tracks focus more on borderline-psychedelic melody with cleaner guitars than churning low-end. In that respect, the experimental, drug-friendly sounds of U.S. Christmas feel like the best comparison in our post-Sabbath world. Either way, the building blocks of Diesto's style are no surprise. Warm distortion, a combination of throaty growls and spaced-out singing, and heavy-handed but straightforward drumming are king here. High As the Sun is by no means an instantly gratifying record. It's not that catchy (as in a head-nodding sludge type of way), there are few riffs that could stand entirely alone, and the mood is a little too bright to capture the attention of those just looking for the darkest music available. But there are rewards to be reaped upon repeated listens, as the fantastic layers of guitar work, subtle psychedelic touches, and well-placed periods of heaviness begin to come out of the woodwork. At the end of the day, it's the first Seventh Rule release in a while that I haven't truly loved, yet for any connoisseur of the sludge/stoner metal sound, it's still a clever example of the continual re-invention of the Sabbath wheel, however tight that genre space may currently be. Bottom Line: Diesto's High As the Sun does a lot of things right. The subtle melody of the layered guitar work, smoky atmosphere, and sprinkling of heavy moments all get the stamp of approval. However, there simply aren't enough genuinely remarkable riffs to make me reach for this over records by the band's modern day peers. With a little work, High As the Sun can definitely be appreciated -- and I don't fault the band for choosing a less accessible path -- but without a strong number of memorable qualities, this will probably pass under the radar for many.