After a four-year hiatus, Bay Area indie rockers dredg have returned with a record whose ambition -- and payoff -- easily eclipse their respectable 2005 effort, CATCH WITHOUT ARMS. Having been dropped from Interscope in the period since that album's release, the band took their sweet time in churning out PARIAH, founding their own independent label and enlisting the help of a lesser-known producer. The result is actually the best sound quality and production values the band have achieved yet in their career, by far.What this album may lack in the pop sensibilities of CWOA -- or epic, larger-than-life atmosphere of EL CIELO (admittedly still the band's crowning achivement) -- it makes up for in the sheer diversity of the music and instrumentation. About half of the 10 full-length songs here are completely outside the realm of the slow-burning, spacey indie rock dredg and their contemporaries have traditionally indulged in. "Light Switch" draws from Zeppelin/classic rock in a far more direct way than anything the band has done before, and throws in some blues elements for good measure; meanwhile, "Mourning This Morning" and "Gathering Pebbles" (the latter a true standout on the record) elicit enough of a jazz (!) influence to leave fans' jaws on the floor upon first listen.The structure of the record abandons CATCH WITHOUT ARMS's to-the-point delivery, instead harkening back to the EL CIELO era, when interludes between full-length songs were actually interesting and warranted separate tracks. In fact, instrumentals "R U O K?" and "Down to the Cellar" are probably the best the band has offered up yet, surpassing any of the "Brushstrokes" of EL CIELO.In addition to the aforementioned "Gathering Pebbles," my top picks include the radio-ready yet entirely unconventional "Saviour," as well as "Quotes," which can only be describes as epic -- think "Whoa is Me" or "The Canyon Behind Her," but with the slickest production imagineable. My only two complaints involve "Information" and "Cartoon Showroom." The former showed huge promise during live performances over the two years leading up to this record's release, but I feel the final studio version opts for a cheesy 80s vibe that could have been easily avoided with a heavier emphasis on the rhythm guitar and warmer, more intense vocals. "Showroom," to be frank, just plain bores me. The band stated in a recent interview that it was originally conceived as a straightforward rocker, then changed to the adult-contemporary lullaby found on the album somewhere during its production; while I applaud the band's willingness to experiment and push boundaries (as they did with tremendous success throughout most of this record), I can't say it does much for me in this particular case.My impressions of individual tracks aside, the bottom line is that dredg have created another experimental masterpiece which manages to be cohesive, yet wandering and exceptionally diverse all at once. If there's any weakness affecting the record as a whole, it may be lyrics that every now and then dip into the "dangerously cheesy" category, but the music is honestly good enough that it hardly bothers me. What makes this album particularly impressive to me is that the band seemingly reversed course -- and successfully! -- after drifting towards a pop-rock sound on CWOA that, while still very enjoyable, wasn't really their niche. Seems to me that rarely happens in the music biz. Combine all this with the exceptionally clean, intricate production (Matt Radosevich deserves a hell of a lot of credit here), and you have a recipe for pure musical bliss in exploring this record inside and out for months after purchase. Please, if you value originality and creative ambition at all, buy a copy or two of TPTPTD -- if only to ensure this criminally-underrated group has the funds to continue creating some of the best rock music out there.4.5 stars