Daysend "Severance" CD
[Metal Blade]
This Australian act plays a solid form of modern metal that combines contemporary groove and melody with some melodic Swedish death metal runs and a few curiously dissonant riffs, spiced up with very subtly technical runs and a progressive metal lean to the style and fluidity of the lead playing. The vocals shift rather effectively from singing to screaming, balancing themselves against the diversity of the music, and I actually think the songwriting is pretty good for the ground it covers. "The Blood of Angels" is a little more energetic with its faster tempos and more involved picking patterns and note combinations, layering in some lead lines and letting the aggressive vocals styles drive the majority of the track; "Prism of You" is a little slower and has lots of start/stop rhythms with a catchier song structure that pops out from the pack (great chorus, notably the vocal harmonies); and "Beggars With Knives" messes with more rhythmic chunkiness and emphatic vocal harmonies for a killer chorus - holding up the tail end of the record well. On rare occasion they do hit on some minor elements that could be misconstrued as nu-metal sounding (mainly in the vocal department and some of the staccato rhythm playing - the title track, for example, is really quite weak), but that's not really an issue here as the occasional solos and general aesthetic of the music is definitely based around more stable influences. "September" is the only track I truly take issue with, as its clean guitars, wah-wah leads, and generally more laidback approach has more of a radio kind of vibe to it - it's a decently written song, but its not in line with the rest of the record per se. The recording is quite good in my opinion. The drums can be somewhat taut and the guitar tone occasionally gets a bit of an unnatural sheen to it, but overall everything is quite resonant and full. The bass should probably be upped a little in the mix, but you can hear it, and I quite enjoy its tone. The vocals sound fine, the levels between the other instruments are even, and pound for pound it's a pretty well polished piece of work. I don't have any significant issues with it. The layout is pretty minimal and consistent with some unfortunately overdramatic band photos and some great images of withered flowers that actually look excellent. The lyrics are all dealing with personal hardships and turmoil in a pretty blunt manner that keeps it simple, though honestly doesn't do much for me as a result - it's all just a little overly simplified or something, you know? The CD-Rom portion of the disc contains a video clip for "Born is the Enemy", which is basically just black and white performance footage shot in a basic setting. It's nothing special but the film quality looks solid and all that. There's also a bio and a photo gallery, pretty standard fare. Not bad. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this, and I'm not blown away, but I enjoy it. It's not something I'll listen to regularly, but there are a few great songs included, and with a little more work they could definitely improve. I'd almost grant this a 7/10, but it's not quite consistent enough. Close, though... close. I'd definitely like to hear more solos and more of the technical styled riffing, but the memorable choruses are definitely key as well. So... they're getting there. (6/10)
Running time - 46:50, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: The Blood of Angels, Prism of You, Beggars With Knives]
Metal Blade Records - http://www.metalblade.com

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