Album Reviews : Daysend – Within The Eye Of Chaos

Since the new millenium of “modern metal”, many bands have been trying to reinvent popular yet formulaic conventions of metal and emblazon themselves with their own signature, all the while being oft-stigmatised as “rip offs” and riding “coat tails”.

Aussie metal heads have been without a local band who rivals their coveted international gods-of-choice. Now one must not look any further than Daysend for a similar experience.

“See You In My Nightmare” tears back open the almost healed wounds, laden upon the listeners ears by ‘The Warning”s closing moments. Intense from the first second with fresh yet familiar stylings not lost on the regular Daysend fan. Melodic thrashing assaults of riffage segues into the anthemic chorus; at this point a familiar listener becomes reacquainted of the throes of depression and anger left dormant from ‘The Warning’

“Mindless”, aptly put, if possible, becomes an almost death metal frenzy of sheer dirty aggression. A choice selection for fans looking to mosh and cause bodily harm no doubt, which upon it’s abrasive conclusion, leads into this listeners personal favourite track, and one within the upper echelons of their finest songs. Thoughtfully melodic and groove-laden riffage is the anchor of this anthemic track, save for it’s ever catchy, crowd intended sing-along passages, which ferries a similar tone of the indeed different yet “Rocking” form of “Questions” and the inspiring messages of “Simple Minds” to the later end of the album.

Keeping testament to the former offering of ‘The Warning”s “V” is another instrumental therapy to sooth the listeners ears and let them reflect on feelings of the first half of the albums delivering, still fresh.

The 2nd half performs reasonably well, albeit not as strong as the first half of the album, which is a common penchant among their discography. “In This Moment” Delivers more melodic waves of pure metallic splendour, soaring yet restrained vocals given the pace of the album, and shredding guitar solo’s reminiscent of previous album’s guitar formula.

More or less the heaviest song on the entire album is the assumably arcane named track entitled “Acid Laced Fiasco”. Fans of Gothenburg melodic death will really get their juices flowing with this high-octane paced haymaker to the throat. Providing the expected gentle melodic chorus delivered by the album’s now familiar scale progressive single note drenched source.

The album carries through several more “toe-tapping” yet not exactly memorable pieces. Whilst not becoming stagnant in the slightest, the last act of the album’s intention seems vague and uncertain. Unusually so, the album ends on an instrumental track which is mostly a resonating, repeated riff, which journey’s into silence to complete Daysend’s newest offering.

While Daysend are not technically a contender on the global metal circuit, there are pangs of desperation and aggression evident that can resonate to even the most close-minded metal fan. With that said, confidence in the bands chosen formula allows me to suggest this band could exist in any country, in any industry-dictated climate and be successful. There is a yearning to make tsunami-like waves the world over, and this album is testament to that theory. 7.5/10

For fans of: Lamb Of God, In Flames, Scar Symmetry

Band: Daysend
Album: Within The Eye Of Chaos
Year: 2010
Genre: Melodic death metal/Metalcore
Origin: Sydney, Australia
Label: Stomp
myspace.com/daysendmusic

Track listing:
1. See You In My Nightmares
2. Mindless
3. The Coldest Of Disasters <- Reviewers choice
4. Questions
5. Simple Minds
6. Without Tears
7. In This Moment
8. Acid Laced Fiasco
9. Down This Hole
10. Edge of the Line
11. Recoil

Review by Bobby Peru