It was Sunday January 29th, 2006. Calling myself excited would be an understatement, as I was about to see Avenged Sevenfold. Checking the venue’s website for door times, I finally received the full list of bands playing. Amongst the list was a band
Day of Contempt whom I had previously never heard of. After checking out their purevolume I discovered they hailed from Australia. Prior to seeing them live, I knew I was bound to go off an by their CD. Nothing extremely original, but pulled off rock solid music with nice vocals and a rocking female guitarist to boot. If I wasn’t second row on the floor on Mr. Gates’ side, I would have left to meet the band and buy their record. Well what a coincidence that 6 months later thinking about them in Best Buy I just so happened to come across one lonely copy of their EP
The Will To Live. Six songs for seven bucks equals a bargain way too good to pass up. If this is just a taste of what the band is capable of, their future should be very bright on Epitaph.
Day of Contempt (at time of release)
Ben Coyte – Vocals
Dan Smith – Bass and vocals
Tom Deverix – Guitar
Simon O’Goreman – Guitar
Joel Bourne – Drums
First off, this band is very hard to be classified into a specific genre. They have plenty of elements from punk, hardcore, metalcore and even post-hardcore. Punk roots are shown with plenty of progressions, while a hardcore vocal style comes out. There are often clean vocals handled by Dan; thus dual vocal styles reminiscent of metalcore, yet there is an absence of breakdowns for the majority of the record. Plenty of times, there is a post-hardcore sound minus some technicality. Well regardless of their genre, they sure know how to put heart and energy into their music. Vocals play a big part in their sound, as they sound very passionate on both ends. Ben’s screaming manages to be raw yet polished in plenty of cases. Its straight anguish is shown, yet it never sounds much like a balls out yell or like an over production project. The clean vocals from Dan never come off as forced into the mix, as they usually blend in nicely with the surrounding music work. Guitar wise this is a nicely put together sound. Riffs are brought out when necessary, as when they come out they are pulled with an abundance of taste. Their progressions are done in a very likeable fashion as well, coming off catchy and are consistent thought out the album. Bass is heard in some cases, many of times adding to the solid rhythm section. Due to his vocal duty, Dan mainly follows guitars but he does have a few stand out lines. Drums finish off the section, keeping things very tight. There is hardly any use of double bass but plenty of variation is present and they remain consistent throughout the EP. It is definitely debatable to call the lyrics cliché at times, but it would be difficult to label them straight up bad. With good instrumental features, it is no doubt that this should be a great listen.
Well with that mindset going in, for the most part things did not disappoint. The opener
A Million Miles tosses you into what is in order for the rest of the album. A very punk influenced intro hits the ears after a few seconds of silence and weird effects. The octave chords are quite catchy and as soon as Ben comes in, things take a different turn. Right away one will get a sense of the passion found in his vocals, as they are truly magnificent. The verse holds a heavy state, while during the chorus Dan takes over for a slightly lighter feel. He is a good singer to say the least despite the fact that his voice is not extremely distinctive. During the bridge a cool little guitar lick comes out over some stop start patterns. Once everything comes back in, a perfect transition to the chorus is provided without repeating any other previous parts in the song. Towards the end, there is a tiny break down, but nothing too ridiculous that will make the scene kids cream themselves. The outro is rock solid, ending the opener in great fashion.
The song is only a preview of what else is to come on the EP. Another highlight comes in
Take All the Blame . Some of the music might sound a tad generic, but the chorus sing-a-long line is so catchy I remembered it from January after only hearing it once. Once again, not the most original music but it is pulled off convincingly. Things are at a bit of a slower pace during the first verse but pick up for the chorus. The riffs fit the song very well and do a great job leading up to the chorus. More catchy progressions come out, fitting perfectly into the song. There is a little phaser effect during the beginning of the bridge which adds a little something new to the song. Things come to a close with another nice octave chord progression. For the most part, the rest of the EP is similar to this; hard hitting, nicely done progressions and riffs, and solid dual vocal performances. The only exception to this is
Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts which happens to be the weakest track. Things just sound very out of place here, as piano opens the song and it stays mid tempo throughout. It seems that the band tried to take a different approach here, but it did not work out for the better. However, credit is given for trying something different from their other material. If the only major complaint about an EP is a somewhat experimental track for the band, things are in great shape.
Luckily, things reach a high point with the final song
Close My Eyes . Musically it is nothing extreme, just very tightly and carefully put together. Vocals really make this song come alive. It just seems rare to find a dual combination holding up each of their ends with passionate delivery. Clearly vocals are a big aspect for
Day of Contempt . There is a very nice melodic lead towards the end. The lick comes out during the bridge which leads into a final chorus. Some nice rolls and riffs add to some variation over another catchy chorus. The song comes to a close and fades out with some interesting noises, clocking in at 5:06. While the longest on the album, it is far from tiresome. Clearly the band is capable of writing lengthy songs and keeping the same quality as some of their shorter tracks. While this is not the most original sound, it is easy to recognize that this comes straight from the heart and that
Day of Contempt is comfortable with what they write.
With this EP, it is only a matter of time before things get bigger for
Day of Contempt . For the most part, things are just so convincing and zealous that one cannot help but to be sucked into it. Their large mixture of genres should appeal to plenty, as they mix many elements that should satisfy a variety of listeners.
The Will To Live is a solid start for the band and they seem to be on their way to a bright future here in the states. What direction they take in the days to come should be interesting, as
Day of Contempt is definitely a band to keep tabs on.
Final Rating: 3.5/5
Note: Please tell if you think this should be under a more specific or different genre, I am just leaving it under punk for now.
