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Album Details

• Artist: Daylight Dies
• Album: A Frail Becoming
• Label: Candlelight Records
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2013-01-22

Daylight Dies, one of the more popular metal bands in America, released their 4th full-length A Frail Becoming late last year. Featuring a melodic death/doom metal style and incorporating both traditional death metal "harsh" vocals and clean, melodic counterpoints, Daylight Dies have a blueprint similar to many successful European acts of their particular subgenre. Despite hearing their name dropped numerous times, this is my first experience with the band.


I've listened to this record basically nonstop for days on end. Longer than I usually take on any given review, indeed. The reason for this is simply that A Frail Becoming failed to resonate with me in the way I had expected. Even after 20+ spins (what can I say, I am persistent when it comes to certain things) it failed to leave a lasting impression. It does, however, grow on you somewhat after awhile. Not that that is any high praise, but there are merits to the album beyond my dissatisfaction. The whole thing meshes together in a way that is both pleasurable and, underneath it all, representative of the biggest issue I have. The repetitve wall of rhythm guitars never really gives way to anything else beyond the odd intro/outro section and the extremely well done leads and solos. This mucks the whole album up for me. Also, the dual vocals. In practice, the combination of harsh and clean is something I absolutely love, but here it sounds generic and underwhelming. It may be a reflection of the noise behind the voices, but either way I am left unimpressed.


Unimpressed, but not totally down on Daylight Dies because there are redeeming qualities here that I can recognize despite not connecting with them. This particular style, done in this particular way, is going to be a surefire smash with an untold number of listeners, and this probably (I say probably having not heard any past releases of theirs) explains their longevity and popularity. However, in this review, I cannot say much good about A Frail Becoming because it simply does not do much for me. Flat, bland, repetitive and totally lacking the emotive impact the very best purveyors of this style are capable of delivering.

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