Sikth
Death Of A Dead Day

THE REVIEW

I recently discovered this band, and I was captivated by them. The first time I listened to the music of these six young Englishmen, I couldn't believe my ears: so unusual, intricate, inconceivable, crazy, but above all sincere and spontaneous, capable of shattering and sweeping away all sorts of stereotypes and barriers, blending together an incalculable amount of genres and musical styles.

A band that goes beyond metal from which it draws heavily (thankfully!) and is capable of exploring many different sides of music, heavy and not. With this premise, I proceed to review (my first time on Debaser…) their recent latest effort. It's needless to say that I was eagerly waiting for this “Death Of A Dead Day” (yet I said it anyway…); for some reason, I thought the band would develop more metal-oriented sounds in this new work, and for me, who appreciates metal in almost all its forms, but dislikes the repetitiveness of its patterns, it was more of a fear than a hope.

And… I was right. But don’t jump to conclusions: this is a really good album, very well played and many times (especially if it’s your first time approaching the band) it will leave you incredulous at the continuous virtuosity of these great musicians and the devastating power of the songs (except for three quieter tracks, one of which is a spoken track). “Bland Street Bloom” kicks off the dance (remember, pogo and headbanging are dance), and it is certainly one of the most successful tracks of the album, one that remains imprinted in the mind, and amazes both for its destructive fury and for the peculiarity of its rhythms and sounds, truly unusual.
There’s not even time to recover and focus on what the hell these crazy people just played, as the next track “Flogging The Horses” immediately starts, but it doesn’t particularly capture my attention… only the break in the middle stays in mind (“Let apes roar free… tatatatatata…”), but the track has sounds and rhythm perhaps too similar to the previous one.

The album flows quickly, “Way Beyond The Fond Old River”, “Summer Rain”, once again two aggressive, fast tracks, the band seems determined to create as much chaos as possible in the shortest time possible, but the feeling persists that sounds and rhythms have flattened a bit. The tracks that manage to break the metal-hardcore shell in which the group seems to have enclosed itself until now are “In This Light” (very calm and melodic, where the instruments weave a soft melody on which Justin’s voice rests), “Where Do We Fall?” (reminiscent of “Peep Show” from the previous “The Trees…”, and is one of the most enjoyable tracks) and “When The Moments Gone”, certainly the most eccentric of the lot in terms of sound.
A special mention goes to the splendid “Part Of The Friction”, one of the most successful, it gains beauty with each new listen, and the central melodic part really makes one, let’s say, “travel”. Exciting. The last two songs (“Another Sinking Ship”, “As The Earth Spins Around”) strike the listener with their complexity, the first one in particular, certainly the hardest piece ever written by the band.

In conclusion: after listening, one realizes that this is without a doubt a very good album, which amazes especially for the excellent technique of the musicians, often incredible, and for the originality of the sounds. However, I noticed that, unlike what happens in the previous LP, the songs, except for a few episodes, are very similar to each other. The album flows by and one has the impression of having just finished listening to one single, great song, whose nuances will emerge more and more with each new listen, of course, but whose main structure is a sort of single block that sounds unmistakably metal, and tends to be always a bit self-similar in form.
The songs that initially strike for aggression and heaviness (“Bland Street Bloom”, “Another Sinking Ship”, “Summer Rain” etc.), after the first few listens lose a bit of appeal because they are similar to each other, while tracks like “Part Of The Friction” and “When The Moments Gone”, precisely because they are more eccentric than the others, gain, as already said, strength and beauty with each new listen. The difference between the previous album and this is essentially that, while “The Trees…” could never have been defined as a metal album (it would have been reductive), this “Death Of A Dead Day” certainly is, yes, personal, heterogeneous, but a bit flat. It lacks that feeling that the band is playing with music, ignoring everything and everyone.

It seems that the group wanted to make a record that is effective especially live, and even the lyrics have suffered a sort of “normalization” and have taken a back seat to the music. The rating is mainly affected by the reasons above, but I want to emphasize it, this is a very valid album, which will appeal greatly to those seeking unusual sounds, and to those wanting aggressive and well-played music. Albums like this don’t come out often, bands like this are rare, and the fact that they have leaned more towards metal can be liked or not, because it is subjective.

Perhaps less eclectic, but still amazing (in every sense…).… and with this review, I introduce myself to the Debaser community… I don’t know if it’s a good calling card, you decide!!!