This EP of Diatribe was released late last year, mainly in South Australia. The band is comparable to Skintilla (there is even a former member of Skintilla in Diatribe), who are also under the helm of Brandon Promotions -review traceable in the REZ archives-. However, Diatribe leans more towards nu-metal. It sounds like a mix between Soulfly, (Burning Red) Machinehead, and some nu-metal bands.

The first song kicks in nicely. It’s energetic, has decent low-key riffs, aggressive vocals and infectious lyrics. Because the production is quite raw (like with Skintilla), the aggression and anger come across quite well. The second song is ‘Morebejana’. A good, very much Soulflly-like intro, followed up by riffs at the same pace. ‘Life in Life’, song three starts with a bass-intro, which is quite promising. The next part doesn’t really fit too well, but the part after that is good again. Then some tribal drums are introduced, and the Soulfly comparison becomes more apparent. In this song, singer Josh Smith starts with his Burning Red Machinehead kind of singing. Not such a good idea at first, but after some spins I did kind of like this. Until now, no real complaints.
The song ‘Outside My Inside’ is next. The best part is the part where Josh Smith sings “Outside myself, and I can’t keep from falling”, in a clean voice, kind of like Unjust. The part is lyrically not incredible, yet his voice sounds very good and is perfectly measured up by the music. Very nicely done.
Song five starts off with a nice intro again. A simple yet effective guitar loop. Then the first verse sets in, and, oh dear.

Smith starts to sing along to the drums and guitars in the (Burning Red) Machinehead kind of voice again and it is awful in this part. It doesn’t fit. It is not the correct time, nor the correct riff, nor does he completely hold the tone. This song is weak. The guitarsolo which is played over the recurring riff is good and fast, but for the rest, a very forgettable song with lousy lyrics (“I hate you, I want to kill you” blablabla). Out of the 2 minute 44 seconds, about 20 seconds are worthwhile.
The closer, crappily titled ‘The Shit I See’, measures up to my low expectance and ends the album in dismay. The main riff is plain bad and the lyrics seem to be anti-gay. And, although I’m not necessarily the world greatest fan of homosexual people, I find it a bit immature the bash them verbally, or any other way, for that matter.

All and all (yes, that is my standard here-comes-the-conclusion-sentence), I must say I do see potential in Diatribe. Perhaps even a lot of potential. To fulfill that potential, they must capitalize on their strong points. Now, they are doing a little bit of everything. What they need to be doing in the future: Stay with the aggressive singing, mix it with the Unjust-like clean singing, because Josh Smith is naturally talented for it, let the drums have a more important role, ‘cause obviously Aaron Smith (yes, family) is damn good, and last but not least, put some more solo’s in, as played on song 5. Follow along that line, and success, a bigger record deal and/or at least critical praise should be coming South Australia’s way.