Since the Day "El Mensajero No Es Importante" CD
[Bastardized]
I didn't expect this German act to sound the way that they do. That is to say, this is basically generic melodic Swedish death metalcore. The recording is pretty damn good and the playing is really tight, so it's a shame their style is dominated by such a generic approach, but thankfully there are a few songs that redeem the disc. And I do like the lead vocals. They're fierce screams that are a little more bitter and over the top than most bands of this nature. They do some weird snarled "singing" that's totally weak, however. For instance, the dissonant midpaced riffs in the chorus of "From Day to Day" are fucking awesome, but the "singing" just ruins the vibe and sounds really forced, so they ought to stick with the vicious screams and leave well enough alone. Such riffing points to a shitload of potential for the band, but a lot of the songwriting is jumbled and kind of runs on for too long without enough cohesion. Ironically one of the longest tracks is the generally more midpaced and discordant "For Too Long", which is more of a metal sounding track with lots of fluid riff changes and a darker/more powerful air that stands leagues above the other material, down to some midpaced Crowbar-isms happening with the sludgy guitar harmonies. If every song on the disc was like this I'd be all over this fucking thing like you wouldn't believe, but at the same time that such a killer track is possible they've got hopelessly bland tremolo picking numbers like opener "Welcome to the Show" that do nothing for me at all. "Mascara Eyes" opens with lush basslines and distant singing that sounds much more clean and confident than that elsewhere on the disc, with the strained singing coming in afterwards and weakening the piece a bit, but the slower chord progressions return to the darker atmospheres of "For Too Long" and could make for a stellar direction were the band to get the singing totally in order and explore this style more often. The recording's not bad at all, though. The bass gets lost but the drums are nice and crisp, the vocals fall in against the guitars well, and the guitars are nice and controlled with a heavy density that dominates the material. Sometimes the melody lines sound a little flat and unnatural (the intro to "Lunar Eclipse" sounds really strange and clinical, for example - the actual solos are nice and bright, however), but the rhythm tone kicks ass. The mix is also pretty cohesive, so that aspect of the disc is in check. The layout looks pretty damn good too, with a consistent color scheme and all kinds of jumbled imagery and text arrangements that all look nice. Some of the lyrics seem personal, but many of the topics are socio-political in nature, and the band actually as a pretty creative way of tackling such topics without being overly direct or specific: "You throw burning matches into the powder keg, put up that the column of smoke will shape a toadstool. Do you remember the date you lost the last inhibition of what was already just a trite set phrase? Nothing more than a rope around the neck of your allies..." I'm a little confused by this one. Solid recording, good lyrics, nice presentation, one amazing song, a good amount of killer riffs... but then a lot of boring songs that don't do the band's talents any justice whatsoever. This is their debut full-length, so hopefully they're still growing as songwriters, but "For Too Long" crushes everything else on this CD. (6/10)
Running time - 36:55, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: For Too Long, Mascara Eyes]
Bastardized Recordings - http://www.bastardizedrecordings.de

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