It Dies Today

Sirens (2006)

Bryan

Apparently someone likes the current metalcore trend of cleaning up the sound and trying to emulate heavier metal stylings without the suffix ‘core' attached. However, It Dies Today manage to completely botch the style change in almost every way possible. First off, the album still retains the ridiculous ‘metalcore' songs that were just as abundant on their previous release. They also tend to land on the nü-emo side of the tracks instead of being the straight up metal band that they've said they wanted to be.

While it's nice for bands to try to freshen up their sounds and bring in some kind of originality, it doesn't help when the band shifts in between two oversaturated and repetitive genres. At times It Dies Today seem like they're still okay with being labeled as a metalcore band. Other times it seems they wouldn't care if they get labeled as an emo band. Especially compared to their debut EP, the music has definitely softened up a lot. Either way, the progression doesn't seem to be working at all.

Sirens opens up with "A Constant Reminder," which seems to hold a huge identity crisis. The song starts off with a rather metal beginning with the vocals sounding completely similar to the Autumn Offering's Dennis Miller. Then when the chorus comes around, the band is trying to showcase a catchy nü-emo sing-along that starts off with a line as poorly written as "if hopelessness becomes a soundtrack to your misery." No thanks.

The next few songs continue this trend as It Dies Today prove they have no clue on what the hell they want to do here. "Sacre Coeur" opens with a double-bass drum intro that would have fit better on the latest Eighteen Visions CD. And once again, the song is completely dragged down by a pointless singing chorus. The thing is, the singing is normally during the better moments of the songs, but the transition is nowhere close to being fluid and it feels redundant. If they were to keep it clean the entire song, then maybe there could be a few guilty pleasures, but the entire thing is marred by this brand of faux metalcore, trivial breakdowns, and a complete lack of comprehension. The point is only driven in deeper on "Damsel of Death" -- horrendous song title aside, it is easily the lone standout, with all singing and a rather adept solo towards the end. But to no surprise, "Reignite the Fires" follows with the same exact song I've heard a million times before.

You can't hate It Dies Today for trying. But even with their effort, they're still not making the grade. Sirens is just another album that will be completely forgotten in a few months, which isn't totally a bad thing. I honestly do not think people need another album like this, and hopefully these guys get the memo and finally make the transition they so desperately need to make.