For a band that has been around since 1996, Daylight Dies from North Carolina cannot be accused of oversaturating the market with releases. New album A Frail Becoming is only their fourth full-length, excluding a live album from 2005, in 17 years but better late then ever when it is this good. Dismantling Devotion from 2006 is to me a great album that I still play frequently. The follow-up, Lost To The Living was not bad but it didn't affect me as much leading me to not paying it much attention. Therefore A Frail Becoming is the natural and logical step for the band and it is amazing!
Somehow they have managed to blend doom, death and post metal with some really deft songwriting creating a concoction that is beautiful, dark, miserable, enigmatic, heavy and damned great. The confidence within the band is so apparent in the structure and execution of their playing. It's so unrestrained, flowing, soaring and adventurous only the way it is when a band are free of all artistic shackles. They do what they want because they know they can and because they know they are good.
What they have constructed reminds me of latter-day Katatonia. Not as much musically as atmospherically since Daylight Dies are overall more heavier. Instead they invoke the same emotions and feelings as the Swedes and most strikingly is how, while the music is soaring they also keep weight to it. This mix definitely adds to the melancholic and dark side of the them, A Final Vestige is a prime example of this.
While still keeping it Swedish there's also a hint of Opeth's rich texture, how the songs are built up and performed. And if you disregard the rough vocals Riverside are in the mix as well, just check out Sunset.
It's such a revelation to come across a band where the enormous collective talent comes to the fore; when all their collective knowledge comes to use and nothing is wasted or over done. When this happens great music is created. Music that matters, that is poignant. And that's what Daylight Dies has done with A Frail Becoming. They even utilize rough/clean vocals a lot, something I am very allergic to. But here it works perfectly, you know it makes sense.
If Daylight Dies are an unknown entity for you A Frail Becoming is the perfect introduction to their world. And what a musical world it is. Once you have absorbed this amazing release, go back and check out their other albums because you don't want to miss on such a talented band as them. In fact, their entire back catalogue should be in every record collection out there.
--Swedebeast
Comments