Diagonal, hail from the pebbly multicultural mecca of Brighton, which over the years has seemed to morph from just another seabound slide into retirement into a bubbling caldron of counterculture, expressionism and tolerance. I have spent many a lovely time luxuriating on the pebbles that festoon the beachfront, as teenager on a jolly boys outing, as a young man, spending time in the company of Fat Boy Slim and a million other people dancing the night (and subsequent morning) away and as a Dad, with two girls, splashing about in the surf, skimming stones and eating chips before the seagulls could. I have some evocative memoires of Brighton from a music perspective also, having seen and reviewed a multitude of bands across the smorgasbord of amazing venues the city has to offer.
And so, Brighton, rears its head once more courtesy of seventies’ soft rock, psychedelic, soft shoe shuffle merchants Diagonal. Having been around for donkeys’ years and having been on hiatus from 2013-to 2018, the portentously titled ‘4’ arrives and serves notice as to the bands return. So, what to make of it? In times like this, I must revisit the dripping palace of hate that is Ave Noctum’s citadel of misery and flayed skin. Stepping into the fetid humidity of the ambulatory and through to the sacred reading room where contained within, lie the filth encrusted scrolls that outline this website’s modus operandum.
‘a strong focus on covering stuff that is dark, atmospheric and extreme.’
There also follows as sentence that highlights this site’s pride in providing to you, gentle reader, a constantly high quality of review that are ‘well written’. I have deliberately left this part out, less I am hoisted by my own petard…. Anyway, to Diagonal. Music, as we all know, and the way we perceive it, is almost entirely driven by the mood and circumstance in which we consume it. At present, it’s 7.35 am on a slightly grey and chilly September morning and my day stretches out before me like a shit-caked rug from Fred and Rose West’s least favourite bedroom. Safe to say, I am in no mood for pretentious, the lazy, the ill-conceived and the boring. And upon first listen, as ‘Amon’ tumbles out of my headphones like a broiling shit conceived from via a three-day binge of Flamin’ Hot Monster Munch, Stella and Ketamine, I can feel my pulse roaring and words such as abhorrent, irked, irate and exasperated rip though my frontal lobe like dropping a toaster into the bath you are sat. It’s all gently stummed, glassy guitars, gentle brushed jazz infused drums and multi tracked vocals that reverberate on and on and on and on. It’s like Cream without the brutality of Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce’s panzer like bass. The next track, ‘Chroma’ treads a similar path, and my body starts to crave any kind of metallic riff or double bass drum stroke before, but suddenly, something clicks and the fog lifts and I come to my senses. ‘You daft old cunt’ I say to myself. ‘You’ve gone too far this time’ and you know what, I am right.
I have come to a funeral dressed up as Big Bird, to a children’s fourth birthday party dressed as Pennywise, I have come under prepared and ill equipped to think for myself, in a mood that is two parts fury and one part indifference. I lean back in my chair and hold my hands to my head and close my eyes and allow Diagonal to wash over me like Jesus being baptised in the River Jordan. There is nothing on this record I haven’t heard before, yet the way this 70’s infused progressive rock is put together, is as clever as it is enjoyable. It catches you off guard as the tempo stays true and constant throughout the five tracks on offer here, as the guitars gently weave their lacy patterns in the air as the bass gently hums, the occasional saxophone wails in the distance like a siren song and it all coalesces in such a way, that by album closer (and by far and away the absolute jewel in this album’s crown) ‘Totem’, the ethereal vocals, softly peddled tambourine and gentle guitar coda, lift me from my malaise and carry me aloft onto another spiritual plane. Looks, this isn’t going to be for everyone, and I can see how some may feel that this is load of pretentious, revisionist nonsense but if you look beyond that, there are some real globules of goodness on show here. Considering where I was as when I commenced writing this review, the fact that Diagonal have won me over in the space of five songs, is testament to the talent on show. Yes, it wears its influences on its paisley, tie dyed covered sleeve and it my sound like a side project featuring members from Pink Floyd, Yes and Jethro Tull, but it has enough in its locker (certainly based on this album) to remain a force to be reconned with. Does Diagonal cover any of the broad-based touchstones for inclusion on this site? Well. It’s certainly not dark (in fact it positively radiates a Sunny Delight hue of sparkly orange), it is not extreme in the slightest, but what it does have, is a bucket full of atmosphere, and whilst this may well be the lightest thing I listen to this year on behalf of Ave Noctum, I am none the worse for it. And do you know what? The sun has just come out.
(7/10 Nick Griffiths)
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