Review Summary: A solid debut album for "From Ashes To New", and a nice follow up to their 2013 E.P.
Day One is the first full album by the band "From Ashes To New", following their five song E.P. which was released in 2013. It contains eleven songs, four of which were released in the Downfall E.P. that they released in 2015. One of their main goals as a band is to write songs with a lot of meaning that give people hope and inspire them to live life to the fullest and overcome their trials and tribulations. Their musical style is rock, and they utilize rapping, clean singing, screaming, guitar leads, and hardcore breakdowns in their music. Since their first E.P. they have shared the stage with bands like Hollywood Undead, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Atreyu, and are playing in Vans Warped Tour '16.
Most of their songs have rapping and singing, with screaming thrown in here and there, although "Face the Day" and "Lost and Alone" consist purely of singing and screaming. A lot of people are quick to compare them to Linkin Park, but this is a deceptive comparison in a lot of ways because their style of rock is very grounded in the metalcore genre, and their rapping is not much like Mike Shinoda's at all. Their sound comes much closer to resembling a fusion between Hollywood Undead and Atreyu than it does Linkin Park.
The album kicks off intensely with "Land of Make Believe" and the intensity doesn't really relent throughout their eleven songs. All eleven songs are very catchy, heavy, and have very relatable lyrics. Songs like "Lost and Alone", "Same Old Story", and "Every Second" are about having a difficult time seeing past difficult situations in life and really letting all those emotions out. "Lost and Alone" is my favorite in this category on the album, and I really love the screaming and breakdowns in it. "Every Second" is very good too though and in addition to having a very enjoyable guitar lead, the rapping section doesn't come until the bridge, which works really well and adds variety to their sound. "Same Old Story" is really catchy too, and the breakdowns are really well executed.
Particularly inspirational songs lyrically include "Downfall", "Face the Day", and "You Only Die Once" which all really try to make the listener think. "Downfall" tells us that while "we all fall down sometimes" "we can make it" and "don't let go". "Face the Day" is perhaps the heaviest song on the album because the screaming is very prevalent in the verses, chorus, and bridge, and there is no rapping in it. As one might guess, the song is about facing the day, and not giving up in the face of adversity. "You Only Die Once" is probably meant to bring some balance to the the popular saying "you only live once". The song stresses that we shouldn't take our lives for granted, and also that death is not the answer to our problems. It is very passionately sung, and a great way to conclude the roller coaster ride of "Day One."
Perhaps the most lyrically interesting song on the album is "Through It All." It's basically about a relationship that had so much promise, but didn't end up being entirely successful. The lyrics have the singers wrestling with all of the conflicting emotions that remain at the end of the relationship. "You saved me, you made me... You love me, you hate me, and through it all you changed me forever." Anyone who's also been "Through it All" shouldn't have a hard time really connecting with this song.
All in all, "Day One" is a solid debut album for "From Ashes To New", and a nice follow up to their 2013 E.P. There are no mellow songs on the album, so we'll just have to wait and see if they want to lower the intensity of a song or two at some point and reveal what that side of their music might sound like. For now, it looks like they have a very promising future, and are worth keeping up with.
Note: A while after I wrote this review, a deluxe version of this album was released which features three new songs and an acoustic rendition of Lost And Alone. Out of the three new songs, The Last Time impressed me the most. It's a high energy song about not taking crap from people that features a decent guest appearance from Deuce. However, the acoustic version of Lost And Alone is the most impressive deluxe feature. It is far better than the original version, and reveals a softer side of the band that was not present previously. Also, while the original doesn't have any rapping, a really enjoyable rapping bit is included in the acoustic mix. Those two additions make the deluxe edition of Day One well worth checking out.
