There's No Light Without Darkness

What bothers me lately is that more and more records don't last longer than let’s say, thirty minutes. This is also for There's no Light without Darkness, the second studio album by the Chilean power trio Dixie Goat, released on the Italian Electric Valley Records. It is absolutely not a show stopper, but still wanted to get rid of it.

What immediately stands out is the sound. The record has already been compared to the NOLA-sound of amongst others Corrosion of Conformity. Grunge influences were already clearly hearable on their debut. They also return on There's no light without Darkness. Obviously, this has to do with the fact that no other than Jack Endino produced the record. For those who don't know him, Endino was affiliated in the early days with the grunge label Sub Pop, played in the band Skin Yard and also produced albums by Windhand, High on Fire and Toxic Holocaust.

Back to There’s no light without Darkness. The first track, which is also the title track, is instrumental, starts with a mellow, dark riff and has a wonderful bass sound. The NOLA- sound cannot be neglected. As is the case with all the songs on the album. The song is interrupted halfway through a sample from the Sci-fi horror Demon Seed.

Dancin 'on your Grave is strongly reminiscent of Corrosion of Conformity with Keenan playing: the structure of the song, the angular riffs and of course the sound. The third song, Two Faces, is a lot more mellow and has an exciting beginning. Guitarist and vocalist Nikk clearly let us know that Ozzy is one of his inspiration (The cover of Dixie Goat's first LP Black Sun Child is a 1 on 1 copy of Black Sabbath's Master of Reality).

After listening to the first three songs, it is clear that the thread runs through the bass player, KF. He thunders audibly through all the songs and ensures that they are provided with a thick melodic groove. There’s nothing wrong with the other two band members. Nikk provides the songs with Sabbathian riffs and drummer Seb knows how to hit the skins well and hard. On Green Karma, the tempo goes up a bit again and you hear the NOLA-sound extra clearly. The album closes with From one Hell to Another. The longest song on the record and it’s all Sabbath worship: slow, heavy bass, thick riffs and heavy drumming.

There's no light without Darkness is not all excellent, but surely not an album to skip. In fact, with the beautiful weather coming up and bulging parks, it is a wonderful album to listen to: headphones on, between the rosé drinking Karens, playing the air guitar or -drum and occasionally a burping roar.