D'ERCOLE - review added 16th August 2010
Album Review: The Art Of Self Destruction (2010)
For fans of: Heavy Rock... and chillin'
U.S. band D'Ercole features Damian D'Ercole on guitar, Phil Vincent on vocals, William Arnold on bass, and Tane Deangelis on drums. We've already heard a few albums from the silky voiced Phil Vincent, both on his solo releases and with his 'Tragik' band. Tragik also features Damian, so as you might have guessed the material here has an instant familiarity to it.
The sound is downtuned and heavy with a grungy overcoat, whilst also managing to be understated and very chilled. It's a neat trick and takes several listens to get used to. Whilst the performances are all perfectly respectable, the compositions can however lack a certain level of excitement.
There are fleeting moments of excellence throughout, but only rarely do they occur frequently enough in any one song to create a really memorable track. 'Nothin' To Me' gets pretty damn close, as does 'I Won't Be Denied', 'Gone But Not Forgotten' and 'It's A Lie'. Final entry, the symphonic-edged 'The Deluge' is the best of the lot though.
If the whole album had been like the last track (or better), The Art Of Self Destruction could have been a winner. Sadly, although it hints at greatness, as a whole it doesn't quite do it for me. I like a lot of the other work from these guys, but this one is too patchy.
Check out... Tragik or Phil's solo work instead.
Track List:
01. Desperate
02. The Last Time
03. Face To Face
04. Nothin' To Me
05. I Won't Be Denied
06. Destiny
07. Don't Wanna Like You
08. Gone But Not Forgotten
09. It's A Lie
10. The Deluge
Label: Z-Records
Artist's website(s): MySpace
