Entwine Dieversity
Released: March 15, 2004 Origination Year: 2004 Time: 43:23 Tracks: 11 Produced by: Anssi Kippo & Entwine Style: Studio Format: CD Enhancement: None Website: www.entwine.org

If I was the coach of some sort of fictional team and the various musical genres I whet my proverbial whistle with were my players, Gothic Rock/Metal would have to be my go-to guy, hands down as its usually the genre I most often fall back on when looking for my fix. Bands like the increasingly popular Lacuna Coil, To/Die/For and Bam Margera’s (Jackass, Viva La Bam) favorites, HIM, with their catchy, tailor made to stick in your brain hooks are hard not to enjoy, unless of course you’re dead inside, then well there’s just no hope for you, is there?

Another band that has consistently found time at the plate for me has been Finnish based rock and rollers Entwine. First discovering these guys, and gal while browsing the ‘net in hopes of finding something new to while away my days of college instead of actually bettering myself academically, Entwine ended up becoming one of the most consistently revisited bands in my rotation, joining the ranks of such artists as the aforementioned HIM, In Flames, Patrick O’Hearn and Dave Matthews Band (now there’s a wicked witches brew of varying tastes for you).

First on the roster was their then recently released Time of Despair, which found a fan so quickly that within a few weeks I was forced to order their previous release, Gone, which would also become a perennial fave.

Time passed and my interest in both albums would eventually cool as to be expected, though they still do make it into the mix more often than not. Which brings us to Dieversity, the band’s latest and, dare I say, greatest of their career? For the answer to that, read on.

Dieversity presents itself as something of a best of both worlds for me. Whereas Gone, their 2001 effort and first release with vocalist Mika Tauriainen, featured a lot more chunk, a lot less programming, and an overall beefier feel to the songs, 2002’s Time of Despair edged back on the guitar crunch (despite bringing on a second guitarist), turned up the programming bleeps and bloops, and smoothed out most of the jagged edges. Indeed, as I said in an earlier review, Time of Despair is “one of the cleanest and sharply produced albums I have heard in recent memory.” Once again produced by Anssi Kippo, shades of both albums will be quite apparent from the start.

Dieversity’s guitars are thick as hell, with tracks like the quick and razor sharp “Someone the Blame” and “Lost Within” bringing to mind such fantastic songs of yesteryear as “Through the Darkness” circa Gone, while at the same time retaining the hip, rounded edges of Time of Despair tracks like the deliciously catchy “Falling Apart”, still my all-time favorite from the band. Most songs, with the exception of “Everything For You“ are all for the most part quick, radio friendly strikes, checking in at sometimes just over three minutes. And of course most songs have that ever-important hook, as well as that occasionally saccharine lovelorn lyrical content that will make you eat it up like the guilty pleasure it is. Think of it as kind of a modern day cock rock only with a little less cheese and a little more ‘tude (that’s attitude and amplitude) and a lot less hairspray.

Which brings me to the one glaring downside to Dieversity: if you’re already into this type of easy on the ears, gothic tinged rock n’ roll thing or even if you’re trying it for the first time, you’re bound to get hooked into it immediately, which means there’s a better chance you’re going to lose interest a whole lot quicker, too. Perhaps it’s because of Dieversity’s not-so-subtle nod to Gone and Time of Despair – and I played the hell out of those two – but I have found myself losing interest a lot faster than I did with those albums; “Falling Apart” was the song of fall 2002 for me.

That doesn’t mean I’m sick of Dieversity, though, not by a long shot. Gothic Rock/Metal is first and foremost some of the catchiest, most accessible music out there. And even if one loses the taste for it quickly, they will just as quickly want this heavy hitter back in the starting lineup soon enough.

---