MetalSucks

When MetalSucks contributor Christopher Roddy phoned Jesse Haff for his scheduled interview, the Daylight Dies drummer was busy working — on a holiday. As much as we love Daylight Dies and continue to spread the word to the masses, Haff pays his bills as the sole web developer for a 60-person media firm in Los Angeles, though he works from Brooklyn where he’s recently relocated from his native North Carolina. Though Haff was busy juggling work with rehearsing daily for the then-upcoming 10-date tour with Soilwork and Darkane, he still found time to give Roddy an incredibly engaging interview, offering insight into the band’s early days with Relapse Records, the band’s current state of affairs, and their writing and recording process for Dismantling Devotion and Lost to the Living. Read the full interview after the jump.

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The splendidly worded (and completely, 100% grammatically correct) phrase above came from one of the Blabberbrats who was commenting on Soilwork’s new video for “20 More Miles.” And y’know what? I’m inclined to agree! Sure, this clip is the kind of slo-mo behind-the-scenes of a tour-type thing we’ve seen a million times before, but it still works, ’cause it’s fuckin’ Soilwork!

Don’t forget that Soilwork’s MetalSucks sponsored tour with Darkane, Swallow the Sun, and, depending on which date you attend, either Daylight Dies or Warbringer, kicks off this Friday. It’s gonna be a helluva time; get complete tour dates at Soilwork’s MySpace page.

-AR

It’s only January 7th but already three ridiculously awesome North American tours are planned for the early part of the year:

Soilwork + Darkane + Swallow the Sun + Daylight Dies (in some markets)

Meshuggah + Cynic + The Faceless

The Haunted + Nachtmystium + Kylesa + Intronaut

Like, woah.

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No, the band didn’t break up; but two days ago marked the shortest day of the year so it’s all uphill from here, baby! This time of year I always get to thinking of bands like Daylight Dies and Swallow the Sun because it’s so fucking dark, cold and depressing all the time. To that end, here’s Daylight Dies’ video for “Lies That Bind,” a MetalSucks-fave by a band that’s from the wintry, isolated, dreary wilderness of… North Carolina.

Catch ‘em on the MetalSucks co-sponsored North American tour this winter with Soilwork, Darkane and — who else — Swallow the Sun.

-VN

What was already shaping up to be one of the most exciting tours of early 2009 just got even better. The North American jaunt, headlined by Soilwork with support from Darkane and Swallow the Sun, just added North Carolina’s princes of gloomy-death-doom Daylight Dies (read Chris Roddy’s glowing review of Lost to the Living) in place of Warbringer, who were forced to drop off due to recording obligations. It’s not that we don’t like Warbringer — in fact, they’re one of our collective favorite bands of the current re-thrash movement — it’s just that… dude, Daylight fuckin’ Dies!! And Swallow the Sun! On the same bill! Headlined (finally!) by a newly re-Peter Wichers’ed Soilwork!! Dude.

Head exploding. For serious. Full list of tour dates after the jump.

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We love Daylight Dies here at the MS Mansion and apparently Cosmo Lee of Invisible Oranges (and several other fine publications) does too:

I put on Lost to the Living (Candlelight, 2008) as Hurricane Hanna hit New York. As rain curtained my windows, my room darkened. It wasn’t just the sky. My thoughts went south to North Carolina, home of Daylight Dies, and where Hanna had just touched down. Few bands change the color of a room so effectively. Outside of metal: Joy Division and The Cure (for me, Disintegration (incidentally, this record was mixed at Fascination Street Studios)). In metal, Daylight Dies’ colleagues: Katatonia, Sentenced, Swallow the Sun, Insomnium. These are soundtracks for rainy days – blankets, hot tea, and metal.

If it’s raining wherever you’re reading this from, crank it up and curl up in front of a fire (or smoke a bowl). If it’s not, you can just pretend.

Daylight Dies – “A Subtle Violence”

Daylight Dies – “Cathedral”

-VN

Finland’s Omnium Gatherum, a gloomy, dark doom/death band of whom Axl and I are big fans, have posted two new full tracks from their new album The Redshift, out September 22 in Europe and October 14 in the U.S. (Candlelight). I’m tired and unable to come up with anything funny/interesting, but trust us, it’s good and you’ll like it if you like stuff like Daylight Dies and Agalloch.

-VN

“Doom” always seemed like a silly name for a style of music, considering it isn’t used in everyday conversation the way “death” is. Death has serious, negative connotations while doom is more cartoony. People only use it in an exaggerated, comedic sense as in, “We’re all doomed!” Why
couldn’t we have called it Dread Metal? There’s a heavy sense of dread to this kind of music that’s much more malevolent considering “doom” expresses finality while “dread” can go on in perpetuity.

Possessing a Doom Metal sound with harsh, roaring Death Metal vocals, North Carolina’s Daylight Dies aren’t as heavy as some other bands but the aura they put forth is weightier than most. Lost To The Living is a reflective work featuring solemn meditations that occasionally rise up to strike with a biting force, but mostly offers lush instrumentation that will endear the act to existing fans and newcomers alike. There’s been a clear progression over the short career arc of Daylight Dies, and with Lost To The Living we get what could very well become the band’s masterwork.

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Oceans of Sadness are a band who grabbed my attention based solely on their name, which despite its emo-osity beckoned me to give them a listen. The Belgium-based sextet combine elements of Scandinavian-influenced death/doom (Insomnium, Daylight Dies, Agalloch) with a more airy, ethereal, progged-out but dark sense of melody reminiscent of To-Mera meets Type O Negative. Does that make any sense at all? Didn’t think so, but neither do 99% of music descriptions.

Oceans of Sadness’ MySpace page says they have a new album coming out some time this year called The Arrogance of Ignorance but doesn’t specify a date. One track from that record, “Some Things Seem So Easy,” is posted on their MySpace. Also check out their haunting, truly wicked sounding cover of Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” (complete with a keyboard rendition of the guitar solo). Dig it.

-VN

North Carolina’s Daylight Dies make some of the doomiest melodic death metal out there — and along with Washington’s Agalloch, make some of the music best suited for a rainy day.

No wonder it’s raining here in NYC then, because Daylight Dies have released a brand new track (I’ll be here all day, folks!) on the Candelight Records MySpace page, called “A Portrait in White.” The track comes off the new album Lost to the Living, which hits stores June 24th.

I am super fucking excited about this record! Which makes me all that much more of a sucker for not going to see Daylight Dies open for Candlemass tonight at BB King’s. Alas… someone who is going please send us a report. In the meantime at least I have this track to enjoy.

-VN

Candlemass guitarist Mats “Mappe” Björkman has been sentenced to two years in prison for masterminding an elaborate scheme involving skimming profits from the CD distributor warehouse in Stockholm where he worked. A recent conflicting report from the band suggests all is peachy in Candlemass-land:

“Candlemass answer to the crap that’s been published lately is very simple: NOTHING HAS CHANGED!! The band will record the planned EP, ‘Lucifer Rising‘, in April WITH MAPPE…Candlemass will also tour the states WITH MAPPE in May and June and also record the follow-up to ‘King of the Grey Islands‘ this coming autumn WITH MAPPE!!

We sincerely hope the tour does go on as planned because we were looking forward to the doom legends’ Spring tour with Daylight Dies.

Call us crazy, but how is Mappe supposed to tour and record with the band if he’s locked up in the slammer? A musician stealing CDs… shit, and people say record labels are the ones killing the music industry.

-VN

Daylight Dies aren’t Swedish, but they may as well be; they’re even mixing (and I believe recording as well) their new album at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden. The North Carolinans’ brand of doomy melodeath is distinctly Scandinavian in sound, and they’re even touring with legendary Swedish doomsters Candlemass in the States in May. Lost to the Living, the band’s third record, is set for a June 25 on Candelight Records, and we couldn’t be more excited. Their 2006 release Dismantling Devotion is haunting, dark, and enchanting metal that I couldn’t stop spinning on my iPod once I got my hands on it.

After the jump, the full list of the Candlemass / Daylight Dies U.S. tour dates.

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Bad headline puns aside, Daylight Dies are one of our favorite American metal bands carrying the European-style torch (see also: Agalloch); their dark, doomy version of melodeath is way more reminiscent of locations above the arctic circle than it is their native North Carolina. The band is currently finishing up tracking their new album, the follow-up to 2006’s excellent Dismantling Devotion (Candlelight Records) after which they’ll send it off to Fascination Street Studios in Sweden (where else?) for mixing and mastering. Hopefully the album will be ready in time for their Spring U.S. tour with Candlemass.

Here’s a video update from their recording sessions, followed by the video for “Lies That Bind” from Dismanting Devotion. Tour dates after the jump.

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A recent comment by Kye reminded me that we really ought to write about Pacific Northwest atmospheric doomsters Agalloch. Beautifuly doomy might be one way to describe the sound of this mostly instrumental, rarely touring foursome; the best way to describe this music could be to say that this is metal that absolutely sounds like it was written by dudes who live somewhere where it rains, all the time. Think a less Death-y, darker Daylight Dies. Their 2006 release Ashes Against the Grain (The End) is a great record to blaze to on a rainy day, what with such precipitation-inspired tracks as “Fire Above, Ice Below,” “Falling Snow,” and “Not Unlike the Waves.”

Agalloch has a new record called The White EP due on Vendlus Records on that most metal of days, Feb 29, so metal it only happens once every four years. “Sowilo Rune,” a preview track recently made available on their MySpace page, interweaves acoustic guitars with pianos, whispers, samples, and the occasional airy electric lead. It’s a whole lot less heavy than their previous output, but the band assures fans they aren’t permanently altering their sound: “As with all of our EPs and limited releases, this is not necessarily a sign of things to come. We envision small releases as opportunities to experiment and try new things without the weighty demands of a full-length release. So, expect a different sound, but also expect something that sits nicely with the rest of our work.” And while the new material is certainly different, it’s absolutely in character with the rest of their work.

Pre-order The White EP at www.vendlus.com/store. This release is limited to 2000 copies.

Be sure to check out Agalloch on MySpace, where you can also hear some of their older, heavier material. Think of the new, mostly acoustic EP as music for a snowy day, perhaps.

-VN

I mean seriously, get a load of this thing. Completely unrivaled in metal today. Show me a beard more bad-ass than this one, I dare you. Until, of course… the beard of one Vince Neilstein conquers all… (stay tuned)…

-VN