Search - Daylight Dies :: Dismantling Devotion

Precise Blend of Melody and Heaviness

IcemanJ | Ohio, USA | 03/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to admit, I haven't been discovering new Metal artists nearly as much as I used to. But almost immediately upon hearing this solid, precise balance of melody, heaviness, atmosphere, and progression, I knew I had to own this album. I haven't felt this way since I first discovered my favorite metal bands around 2002 - namely Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, Agalloch, and Novembre. This album really has everything you'd want in a metal album. Everything from the riffs, the instrumental parts, the solos, the song structures, the general feel, the crisp production quality, and especially the vocals, are virtually perfect.



There is such a crystal-clear, fresh production on this album, not to mention the fine musicianship. Those melodic, yet merciless riffs just grind themselves right into your brain providing instant fulfillment to the listener and an unmistakable identity for the band's sound.



Here we also have some of the best growling vocals that I've heard in a while. Nathan Ellis provides deep, ominous, menacing bellows that will shatter your bones. I always considered the great Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth to be the best death metal vocalist, and I think Nathan is VERY close to being just as good as him. There is also a good mix of melodious, smooth clean vocals here for some variety. These are also extremely well done, by the same vocalist. "Solitary Refinement" is a great example of a song with nothing but clean vocals.



Some people may see the tag of "Doom Metal" and think oh, it's slow and boring. CERTAINLY NOT! This band, at least on this album absolutely melds the world of Doom and Death. They have a great variety of tempos in their songs, and they really are the perfect union between the two, not being "slow and boring" that people think of when they hear doom, and not being just super fast gory blastbeats that death metal is commonly associated with. Of course, if you love doom metal, or death metal, you will certainly find your cup of tea with this band. Daylight Dies does not bore the listener. The songs are always changing just enough to stay interesting, and have enough variety for that long-lasting appeal that will almost guarantee to satisfy the listener no matter what he is craving to hear.



"A Life Less Lived" is the song I heard that made me get this. Then there is that riff at the last minute of the song takes with it to fade out into oblivion, nicknamed by me "The Riff to Remember." This riff will make your skin melt, and give you a new appreciation of life and the universe. It will stick in your head for days and weeks, giving you the compelling need to keep listening to at least the song, if not the album. My only complaint is that it is too short. Seriously, they could have milked that riff for about 6 minutes and I wouldn't get tired of it.



The title track. "Dismantling Devotion" is 7 minutes of pure bliss. Many agree that this is possibly one of the best metal instrumental tracks in recent history. It kind of reminds me of Dark Tranquillity's "Ex Nihilo" in a way. It slowly fades out to leave the listener astonished, and wonderfully appreciative.



So, if you've heard all the hype about this band, or this album particularly, yeah - go ahead and believe the hype and get this as soon as possible. You won't regret it. It is one of my most worthwhile new discoveries in a long time, and I will be picking up the rest of their albums real fast."

Awesome

Timeless Apparition | Somewhere | 04/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Now I heard people having beef with this album and I don't see why...it is the more melodic of Daylight Dies but it still has that flavor of American based band who sounds European...it is worth buying if you're into doomish type metal and love melodics..."