Daylight Dies - Lost to the Living

North American bands exploring desolate and depressive sonorities like Doom Metal are scarce and only appear on very sparse occasions. The musical genre is recognisably a style of music embraced by European acts, mostly from Scandinavia, even though the contribute of some US groups like Winter and Morgion has been vital for the evolution of the genre. Daylight Dies for what already had produced in the past and offers on their third full length album “Lost to the Living” deserves to see its name enclosed in this short list. Mature in its approach to the conjunction of bleak melodies with dissonant heaviness, complex without however being too much technical, diverse and replete with rich textures, “Lost to the Living” is simply a phenomenal work capable of rivalling with the best moments Opeth and Anathema have offered so far. These two names do not get mentioned by chance. Although Daylight Dies possess their own and recognizable sound, they represent the closest reference points to musically situate “Lost to the Living”.

Just like the Swedes Opeth and the Brits Anathema, the quintet employ the use of acoustic guitars to enrich the themes with a melancholic and emotional atmosphere, gaining some progressive characteristics in the process, but not going as far as Opeth does obviously. “Wake Up Lost” for example, is a song that brings to memory the gentler compositions of Mikael Akerfelt, a slow paced and melancholic piece that offers various acoustic interludes. The clean singing of bass player Egan O'Rourke also increases the similarities between the two, even if it strangely evokes the more contemplative moments of Layne Staley.
“Last Alone”, another theme sung entirely by O'Rourke is quite atmospheric, almost Pink Floydian in style that somehow invokes the spirit of Anathema around the “Judgement” days.
The calmer and orchestrated passages are a constant and brilliantly counterbalance the more aggressive and dissonant moments offered by the excellent and skilful work of guitarists Barre Gambling and Charley Chackelford. The lead guitars are also a dominant characteristic of this album as it happens in songs like “A Portrait in White”, “A Subtle Violence” and “Descending”. Without weak points, “Lost to the Living” is an album that grabs our attention from the very beginning to the end, without ever feeling tempted to press the skip forward button. Excellent work! (8/10)

Band info: www.daylightdies.com
Label info: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk