Review Summary: Dark New Day's "Twelve Year Silence" is a recommended listen for anybody. If you like Sevendust, Chevelle, or any other stuff like that. This is a classic in my book.
The band Dark New Day is a band that took A LONG TIME to make. They are a mix of people from different bands, that have come together and write this album, "Twelve Year Silence". The two in this band that I know their former band was that Brett Hestla was the touring bassist for Creed after Brian Marshall opted out. Clint Lowery was the former guitarist for Sevendust.
Dark New Day is:
Troy McLawhorn – Guitar
Brett Hestla – Vocals
Corey Lowery – Bass
Will Hunt – Drums
Clint Lowery – Guitar
Dark New Day – Twelve Year Silence(2005)
1. Taking Me Alive – For about 45 seconds it is silence, and then a soft piano melody comes in. The drums and bass come in after that. At the 1:10 mark the whole band is in. Later in the song is where the band shines as a whole. Brett is a very good singer and it shows in this song. Clint does some good soloing near the end of the song. One of the best on the album IMO. 5/5
2. Brother - The first single from the album and probably the song to get them into the mainstream. A very high guitar riff starts the song as the band shortly comes in after. He is basically saying he will trade everything to have his ‘brother’ with him, so to speak. This is a time where the band really shines on the CD. The message shines out really well, as i have already mentioned to you what it is about. The low tuned guitars are very cool and make it a hard rock ballad song, so to speak. 5/5
3. Free – The intro sounds like it could go to a Staind song, but this song is much better as far as musical talent and lyrics. He is saying we are free, but we aren’t doing anything about it. He is asking why we aren’t doing anything about it. It is one of the softer songs on here. The harmonics at the intro are very mystique, and so is the verses. The chorus is sung very well, and doesn't let you down. 4/5
4. Pieces – The lyrics in the song are just great, telling us that people can take advantage of us and we need to respond to that. The drum and guitar work is great as well, and gives you a great Dark New Day sound. This is one of the better songs on this CD, and it could be a little longer. This sounds like a song Sevendust could perform. At about the 3:12 mark, it stops suddenly. You think the song is over, but it starts up agian and shows the best side of the song. 4.5/5
5. Bare Bones – The whole band starts in kind of soft and builds up. The pre-chorus is sung soft until the chorus comes up, and that is when the band is at full blast. The bridge features the guitar parts being played an octave above what they really are, and a little quieter as well. Good song, as it is heavier near the end, as like the last song. It fades out with some cool effects. 3.5/5
6. That’s Enough - This one of the softer songs on here, and it shows in the chorus. The soft guitar parts in the verse and strong drum beat give you that hint as well. This is also probably a song that Staind could play, because it is in the exact same form. This is more a vocal song than instrumental. Nothing much is going on, but still good for having no great gutiar parts. 3/5
7. Fill Me Again – It starts out really quiet, and then the full band comes in at full blast. The riff that comes in will get stuck in your head for a while. The bridge is nothing special, just sung, sounds a lot like Stone Sour, which is a good think in my book. This is a good rock song, and is probably one of the harder songs on the album. 4/5
8. Lean – This kind of runs with the previous song, until the chorus. That is where the song gets good for me. This chorus is a good example where all five guys are singing in perfect harmony. The bridge features different riffs played at different speeds. They could have done a lot more with this song, but decided not to. It kind of drags on for me though. 3.5/5
9. Evergreen – Starts out with a cool guitar riff, and then into a song sounding like Sevendust, and shows the best of it. The messages is very well sung, as he is saying that we should make the most of our relatoinships and not having them go down the drain. A very hard song, but not as hard as the other one. A very good song. 4/5
10. Heal In Time - There was a song by Sevendust called Damaged, and this song sounds almost exactly like it, but has slight differences. It is O.K. because I love both of these songs. Clint was from Sevendust, so he kind of transferred some of their stuff over to Dark New Day. Solo in the bridge adds to the song. Great song. 5/5
11. Follow the Sun Down – For being the only acoustic song on here, these guys did an amazing job with EVERYTHING abou this song. The lyrics are promiseful, and include hope and stuff like that. The acoustic guitar playing is superb, not being to hard, but gives you a classic closer for such a good album. The accoustic lead gutiar is just so great, and adds a lot with the background solos. 5/5
Pros
Good Guitar playing
Drums
The Five part harmony when it happens.
Cons
Gets repetitive at times
Not a whole lot of solos
Recommended Listens:
Taking Me Alive
Brother
Pieces
Heal In Time
Follow the Sun Down
Hope you all like it! I give it a 5/5.
