Dark Day Dawning

Nothing That I Wouldn't Give (2002)

Jim

For those of you who don't know, Dark Day Dawning is a five piece out of Philadelphia who have a very wide range of musical influences. The CD starts off with your average hardcore song, but it slowly evolves into something else, a mix of hardcore, maybe some grind,maybe some emo. After that they fly into The Grimmest of Fairy Tales which showcases some eerie guitarwork and some gutwrenching vocals. One thing that struck me right of the bat when I heard this band was the vocals. They're some of the most intense I've heard in a long time. Think of a less chaotic Converge. This screaming is mixed in with some melodic singing that blend's well with this band's style.

But don't write this off as just another emotional hardcore band in the vein of Poison the Well, because it isn't. They throw in tempo and style changes as soon as you think you have them figured out. The song Aphrasia unfolds like a resume of the bands abilities: some screamo, some hardcore, a little punk, some metallish leads, and to top it all off a weird ending that sounds like some strange mix of emo and folk guitar. The lyrics deal with the standard emotional hardcore fare, but they do it with an intellectual flair that alot of bands in that genre lack.

This is a great CD, and I'd recommend it to anyone with an open mind.