Review: IDEK. EP by IDEK.

It's hard to stand out in an some would say, over-saturated market in music, especially within rock and metal nowadays. Bands need an edge to push them over the top as far as originality.

One such band to emerge that comes close is IDEK (I don't even know?)  a self professed "Experimental" metal band, hailing from the Netherlands. The band says they are mainly influenced by Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, and Katy Perry (!).

 On their 2017 Self-Titled EP, they straddle the line between the Djent and Deathcore bands of today, but with plenty of things that stand out.

One thing is that some of  the clean vocal parts recall vintage Mike Patton at times, something I find refreshing in a a glut of pop punk and emo sounding vocals that populate and can smear otherwise musically invigorating subgenres like the aforementioned Djent (just look at the ruckus over the clean vocal parts on any thread discussing Periphery, for example).

Like the aforementioned bands, they also feature quirky samples and a sense of humor, something that is also refreshing from this sometimes overly serious genre.

Of course, they also feature the screamed extreme vocals that populate this style of music as well. I found the extreme style vocals to be neither bad nor great, I am openly critical of much of the modern approach to extreme vocals, being as I am a fan of classic Death, Death Doom, and Black Metal.

Overall, the extreme vocals were somewhere in the middle with me; I didn't find them to be overly annoying like a lot of the genre has to offer, nor did I find them tantalizingly great like classic David Vincent, to give an example. Then again, as I am not as into the modern approach to extreme vocals, this is to be expected.

IDEK has some cool jazz/swing parts in songs such as A Fools Gold. One thing that was a surpise with the band is how they eschew a lot of shred guitar solos. I was half expecting some sweep arpeggios or other wanky parts, though this can be both a  blessing and a curse some of the time.
Not every song needs a solo to be a great song, after all.
I think a few of the parts could be spiced up with at least some other parts or complementary riffs, even if solos aren't their thing.

The second half of the EP is more to my preferred taste (other than the first song and intro which I did like). The song, Haze, features a more classic metal influenced melody, as well as an epic melody and cool ride cymbal sounds.  Vanitas Vanitatum features a hip hop intro that then goes back to the sound of the earlier songs. Keyboards add to the atmosphere as well as more clean vocals.
The song freshens itself up with more screamed vocals but with an interesting background of dissonant riffs. I would say the more dissonant riffs are welcome, being as I have always liked bands who use them. It can be a great relief to the chugging that unfortunately floods the modern metal subgenres at times.

Ouroboros is probably the most adventurous song as far as the previously mentioned dissonance goes. Probably featuring the heaviest intro section on the EP in some ways I find this approach a lot more to my liking, it features some almost rockabilly riff parts mixed with more modern verses and singing). And lo and behold, a full guitar solo adds to what is likely the best song on the release. I would say all in all, if they continue in the more experimental direction, and find a way to balance the melody, the quirky parts with a willingness to experiment without falling within the constraints and cliches of their chosen metal subgenre, they should go far.

If you are interested in IDEK, by all means check out these links:

Spotify: http://bit.do/IDEK-EPS
Youtube: http://bit.do/IDEK-EP
Soundcloud EP playlist: https://soundcloud.com/idekband/sets/idek-ep
Facebook page: http://bit.do/IDEK-FB