DOSM - Go West Old Man And Grow Young In The Valley Of Tragedy And Hope

DOSM

​Go West Old Man And Grow Young In The Valley Of Tragedy And Hope
self-released; 2015

3.7 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

DOSM is a band from Los Angeles, California that released - wait for it - Go West Old Man And Grow Young In The Valley Of Tragedy And Hope. Yeah that's one hell of an album title. Long enough for me to assume I was about to get a heavy dose of post-rock. I was wrong.

Go West Old Man And Grow Young In The Valley Of Tragedy And Hope contains instrumentally precise prog rock and also manages to get pretty damn heavy. A couple of bands that came to mind were Lighting Bolt, Deafheaven and Death from Above 1979.

Let's talk about the technical ability of this band for a second. These guys are sick. I was loving what I was hearing from the guitar and bassists but the drummer was jaw-droppingly good. Then there are the vocals melodies, which don’t feel like a novelty. There are a number of parts that are quite catchy and memorable. 

The band is at their best when they go all out. The first track “Go West!” could have been cut back to about a minute in length. The first minute is of birds chirping and then the band starts to slowly fade in before transition to “Tragedy & Hope I.” The song starts off decently enough but really kicks into full gear about a-minute-and-thirty seconds in. I liked the vocals but would have liked to hear them louder in the mix. When he sings, “Ghosts of muted reams / In my hegelian dreams / Change me slow / All I am and all that I've known” I could barely hear the words. 

“Tragedy & Hope II” is another solid song. I heard a bit of Tool on this track. It’s a heavy one with some insane double bass drum action that is not to be missed right before the three-minute mark. 

“Tragedy & Hope III” is where the band slows it down. It wasn’t working quite as well for me. There are some solid guitar parts but the song dragged on longer than it should have. The band gets back on track with “Tragedy & Hope IV.” “Tragedy & Hope V” is arguably the highlight and centerpiece. The song is quite epic. Just take a listen. They close with “Epilogue” which has a Queens Of The Stone Age vibe.

Go West Old Man And Grow Young In The Valley Of Tragedy And Hope has some minor mishaps but overall is a great album. That being said I do wish the vocals were louder throughout.