With not one original band member left in the line up, has Boston Metalcore Diecast finally got the right people for the right jobs now? Sounds like it to me! Their latest change has been the rhythm section; replacing Jeremy Wooden on bass is Brad Horion and taking over the drum stool from Jason Costa is Dennis Pavia. Has this change made a difference? Hell Yeah! Their last album Tearing Down Your Blue Skies was the start of the maturing process from the generic Metalcore face ripping, riffing, screamfest that was Day Of Reckoning. Adding some clean vocals, from then new vocalist Paul Stoddard, was just the start. Internal Revolution takes a giant step into the league of Unearth, God Forbid and even Killswitch Engage. There will be some who will yell “Sell out!” as their style moves away from Metalcore proper and they develop a more commercial sound, but Internal Revolution, although appealing to a broader spectrum of Metalheads, still has plenty Metalcore moments for even the biggest Jamey Jasta fan.

Paul Stoddard takes the position of Frontman very serious. He has a BIG sound; not just loud but has a wide vocal range from screams, growls and bellows to cleanly melodic lightness that he uses instinctively in just the right place in each song; gone is the constant, monotone screaming that can get quite irritating in this genre. Guitarists Jon Kita and Kirk Kolaitis do their bit on backing vocals, also extending their range from previous albums. Not just adding vocal harmonies but belting out the rough stuff when Stoddard goes clean, making for quite an enjoyable listening experience. And, on the subject of guitaring, Kita and Kolaitis pull off some kicking riffs, hooks, solos and guitar harmonies. In particular, the riffs in Internal Revolution, Fractured, Fade Away and Nothing I Could Say are as outstanding pieces of guitaring you could hope to find in any Metal album, not just Metalcore. What else Diecast seem to be making their own sound is the synchronised guitar, bass, drum and vocal staccato riffing which is particularly predominant in the title track but crops up at irregular intervals throughout the album; a remarkable feat of timing and cohesion that’s not such an easy thing to accomplish in a studio environment. Yet, the guys seem to pull it off almost effortlessly.

Internal Revolution is an album that has variation by the sackload running through it. From the galloping pace of the title track opener, the chugging riffs of Fractured, the big, heavy sound of SOS and the thrashing of Out Of Reach, to No Saving Me, the surprisingly (for a Metalcore band anyway) soulful, emotive piano and orchestral arrangement to start, that builds up to a heavy Euro style Power Metal ballad. This track really shows that Stoddard has great vocal power in clean mode as well as the shouty, screaming stuff. There are also some parts of the album that, depending on your point of view, will come across as cheesy commercialistic, or memorably catchy; the Slipknot-ish Never Forget with its ‘Stuck-in-your-head-for-a-week’ chorus; the perhaps overly clean vocals of Fade Away and the aforementioned ballad No Saving Me all have ‘Commercial Radio Friendly’ stamped all over them. Yet, in the sweaty confines of a live venue there is enough angst driven anger and torment on this album that should draw blood in any mosh-pit.

Internal Revolution seems a very apt name for this album as it appears to be at a fork in the road for the band. Whether they stay true to their underground Metalcore roots, or, go down the road of the new and powerful brand of Heavy Metal that is rising in America at the moment, is the choice Diecast have to make. Personally, I think what they are doing now, that one or two steps removed from true Metalcore, is the way they should go. They’ve been on the go long enough to have their fans from old looking for something more mature than just adrenaline fuelled Metalcore. Along the way they will have garnered new fans, and as their sound and style gets all growed up, they will have more appeal to a wider audience. At the moment, Internal Revolution is their second foray into that growed up style of this new brand of American Heavy Metal and I think they are secure in this mould. However, there is an influx of up and coming bands that also play this new American Heavy Metal and have done since their inception. Diecast have to be that little bit different if they want to stand out from that crowd. Keeping on with the new style American Metal but blending in their Hardcore roots should do the trick. What they’ll have to get right though, is the correct balance and mix of the two sounds and styles and Internal Revolution tells me they’re definitely on the right track. Check out the Diecast Website for access to sound samples, their MySpace account and links to You Tube videos of the band. After a couple of hours wandering around all their interweb stuff you will find them growing on you; I know they did on me.