DAYLIGHT DIES 'Dismantling Devotion' (Candlelight) RATING: 8.5/10 Buy now

By RYAN MAVITY

Daylight Dies’ Dismantling Devotion is an album that shows another side to metal. Whereas most metal bands, particularly American metal bands, have a cockfight to see who can play the loudest and fastest, Daylight Dies comes from another direction, slowing down the tempo and taking their time (most of the songs on Dismantling Devotion last five to six minutes). The band calls this style “melancholy metal,” but a more accurate description is melodic doom metal. The result is an album that is hypnotic but still fiercely intense, mellow and introspective but still managing to rock.

The doom in Dismantling Devotion’s brand of doom metal comes from vocalist Nathan Ellis. It’s a deep growl that’s fairly typical of death/doom metal, but here, the vocals are part of the atmosphere. What’s not typical is the effect the vocals have, which lends the band its urgency and intensity. While many of his lyrics are unintelligible, with lines about charred remnants and broken deceptions, you know where he’s coming from. However, the real treat on Dismantling Devotion is the interplay of guitarists Barre Gambling and Charley Shackelford. The opening track, “A Life Less Lived,” sets the tone. Clocking in at a little over eight minutes, it opens with Gambling’s acoustic guitar against the backdrop or Shackelford’s electric, serving as a kind of overture to the album before the rhythm section (bassist Egan O’Rourke and drummer Jesse Haff) comes in. The effect is used even better on “A Dream Resigned,” where, right around the five and half minute mark, the two guitars act like they are talking to one another before the rhythm section and Ellis come back for the cathartic finale.

O’Rourke also sings on the album and he sings well. His vocals are more traditional and on the album’s single, “Lies That Bind,” he plays the role of the angel to Ellis’ devil. He sings the whole way through “Solitary Refinement,” lending the song a haunting loneliness with his “distant voices” refrain. Finally, O’Rourke’s vocals on “A Life Less Lived” add a layer of emotional depth.

For an album so well done, it’s a shame it had to end with the title track, which feels tacked on. It’s the musical equivalent of the clinical analysis scene in Psycho. It’s meant to provide the album closure, but, personally, it would have been better if the band left the ending open. I would have preferred to see the proceedings close with the satanic temptation of “Lies That Bind” instead of an instrumental.

Still, it’s a small quibble with an album that hits the right emotional notes and supplements it with music that is adventurous and well crafted. Dismantling Devotion may be an acquired taste but it’s certainly one worth checking out.