It Dies Today
The Caitiff Choir
Trustkill Records
I’ve never quite understood why death metal ever needed sweetly sung choruses. The chorus of It Dies Today’s “Severed Ties Yields Severed Heads” has this really tough, “jud-jud, chugga chug chug” death metal thing going on (I believe the kids call it “metalcore,” but it’s basically death metal – don’t be fooled), and then all of a sudden, the vocalist starts sounding like Michael Bolton, all the while, these pounding and crushing guitars plod away.
It Dies Today sounds like about a zillion other bands. The good news, though, is that they sound like the bands that all of the other bands are trying to be. Bands like The Haunted, At The Gates and Enter My Silence all set the precedent; the same can be said of It Dies Today. Their riffs are so scathing and gnarly that melody would seem nearly impossible, yet these guys come up with some of the catchiest riffs ever laid down by a “metalcore” band. I haven’t liked a guitar tone so much since Enter My Silence’s “Remote Controlled Scythe.” It’s warm, fuzzy, and yet completely controlled. The guitarists are spectacular musicians. The drummer is pretty comparable in style and hitting to the drummer of At the Gates (I know that’s saying a lot, but it’s completely true). The vocalist is the only sketchy part of It Dies Today. He sings too much. For this kind of aggressive death metal, I want growling and screaming, period. I wish he would’ve left out all of the little singing parts, as they taint what is otherwise an incredible and innovative record.
Trustkill Records: http://www.trustkill.com
