Review Summary: Powerful, barbarous, sweet, deafening, The Caitiff Choir
It Dies Today left an deep scar with their recent release
Sirens. It was just depriving the band of the fine elements and the strengths that the band well exploited in their older releases. However, we should persist in recognizing who they once were with their previous albums in mind, and enjoy the band for who they are, judging retrospectively.
The Caitiff Choir must have been their best release after having left a big impact on listeners. The album is, arguably, the most vivid, with very versatile vocals, great clean choruses, and still dragging the raw elements from
Forever Scorned back up to its time. It Dies Today manages to create an influential and overall competent album, which crawls its way up among its metalcore contemporaries. What does their sophomore album really have to offer?
The guitar's feature are greatly robust and heavy, giving effective groove qualities to the riffs, and the melodic twist effects are simply amazing. The sounds turn out very raspy and though the input seems to be light, it yields a very thick and crisp result. The thick sound applies equally to the drums, which in this case is quite a shame, because they don't have the same flexible and rebounding sound. Blast beats are hardly present, and therefore the drums are not one of my favorite elements here. It is however substituted by the roaring sounds generated by the guitar. The musical constituents are shown off gracefully.
"
This is a call to arms
For all those who recognize romance as,
As a dying scene, who'll take it to their graves;
This is a call to arms
For all who hold this sacrament close,
May our hearts burn on." -
A Threnody for Modern Romance
Each song is very characteristic, and individualized, mainly by the help of choruses, and meaningful lyrics, the quality of which remains from their previous album. These lyrics, even though delivered through words like "blood", "suffocate" etc. portrays the songs as not able to be applied to the comfortable and safe individual life that we may lead, but, the message is figuratively hidden away behind far-fetched and emotional lyrics. Implicitly, they can portray what we can feel, taking it to another level and minutely describing every aspect of human sentiment.
The range of vocals is lethal and they are mellifluously altered between, which distinguishes each song into a unique entity; its particularity open for exploration and the different elements construed differently by each person. They are simply on a high level, even though at times they may sound emo. Brooks voice is boisterous and natural while he sings cleanly and in growl, but sounds a little bit more forced when it comes to the latter. Nonetheless, they complement the merciless guitars perfectly, and the harmoniousness is very fitting, as well as the complicity; the collaborating force adds up powerfully only to push one against an invisible wall of hatred and pain. The music is very directed towards the individual, even if it not intended this way, making this a very successful album in the implicit effect.
"
Today is the end of tolerance.
May the blood of the wicked wash away
The ruins of this frozen metropolis." -
The Depravity Waltz
This album is one of the bands highlights, simply displaying what potential
It Dies Today has and was able to bring out. The guitars are well manipulated, and the metalcore choruses are nostalgic and celestial. I highly recommend this to fans of the genre.
Recommended Tracks
- A Threnody for Modern Romance
- Freak Gasoline Fight Accident
- Our Disintegration
- The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism
