The Darkest of Angels
Dead by Wednesday
Well, sometimes in Metal music, we can see the fusion between modern and old Metal aspects without trouble. For the puritans, it could be a sin (for both sides of this matter), but it can be a way leading to the future. This fusion is what we can find on DEAD BY WEDNESDAY new album, "The Darkest of Angels." We can say that the band creates a musical hybrid between the aggressiveness of modern Thrash Metal with modern grooves and great melodies, and some touches of Progressive Metal here and there. This is something different from what we are used to hear on these times we are living now. To be honest, they are pretty creative, using a strong personality to break rules. Nick Bellmore is the album's producer, and he did a fine job.
Recorded at Dexter's Lab studio, we can say that the final result of the recordings is a fine and strong sound quality, clean and heavy in both ways, but in a good and balanced way. The modernity that we feel comes from the instrumental tunes used by the band. "The Darkest of Angels" is a courageous album, filled with very good guests in each song, as listed on the track list (and I hope that you all know their names), due the painful departure of Joe Morbidelli, their vocalist, due personal reasons. So, on each track, a different vocalist is singing.
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Their best moments: the energetic and modern "Live Again" that is filled with very good work from bass guitar and drums (and that features Brian Fair, from SHADOWS FALL); the brutal and aggressive "Donner's Pass", which shows excellent guitars with some melodies and excellent chorus (and the guest here is Rob Dukes, from GENERATION KILL and former EXODUS vocalist); and these elements can be found again on "Darkest of Angels", that is filled with a hooking groove and great melodies (having John Arch from FATES WARNING giving a hand here); the beautiful and introspective ballad "The Surgeon" (that presents Rob Roy, the new band's vocalist, as well as it has the presence of Marc Rizzo from CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and SOULFLY), the excellent modern groove and intense riffing from "Defining Fire" (with Antony Hamalainen of ARMAGGEDON and Waylon Reavis from MUSHROOM HEAD on vocals); the harsh and modern melodies from "Chosen" (that has some broken tempos and Carley Coma from CANDIRIA as lead voice), and the harsh and aggressive outfit on "Break When I'm Dead" (where melodies appears a lot on the vocals, but as some of you must know, it's a specialty from Eric A.K., from FLOTSAM & JETSAM). It's a very good album, indeed.
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"The Darkest of Angels" Track-listing:
1. The Beginning of the End
2. Live Again (Feat. Brian Fair)
3. Donner's Pass (Feat. Rob Dukes)
4. Self-Medicate (Feat. Paul Stoddard)
5. Power Troopers (Feat. Ceschi & David Ramos)
6. Darkest of Angels (Feat. John Arch)
7. The Surgeon (Feat. Rob Roy & Marc Rizzo)
8. Defining Fire (Feat. Antony Hamalainen & Waylon Reavis)
9. Chosen (Feat. Carley Coma)
10. Phoenix Rising (Feat. Kris Keyes)
11. You Must Like Suffering (Feat. Sean Danielsen)
12. Break When I'm Dead (Feat. Eric AK)
Dead by Wednesday Lineup:
Rob Roy - Vocals
Joey Concepcion - Guitars
Marc Rizzo - Guitars
Mike Modeste - Bass, vocals
Opus - Drums, vocals
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