Reviews

That's a great debut album! These 26 minutes of fast, technical death metal can remind you of few very talented bands from New Jersey who were showing the new paths for brutal metal movement in early '90s as well as some Floridian acts who were ruling the death metal world those times. Of course, we can discuss whose band would be the best comparison for The Dying Light's style and you and I could have at least few good but opposite ideas for such comparisons but we would probably agree that the roots of this music are in the early '90s.

You would be also right if you said that The Dying Light is influenced by Slayer. On the other hand, it's not easy to find fast death metal band not being influenced by Araya and co. This CD has two such old-school characteristic elements - the precise, aggressive riffing and occasional Araya-like screams, so well known from first seconds of "Angel of Death". Traditional patterns are perfectly blended with The Dying Light's own ideas therefore this album is very fresh. The compositions are short but very effective, mainly fast and always brilliantly arranged.

That's not a surprise that technical level of the material is very high, at least for listeners who know Ripping Corpse, Hemlock, Cattle Press and Ceremonium. Why these acts? Since they are previous projects of The Dying Light's members. Ripping Corpse's music is obviously closer to "Survival Guide to the Apocalypse" than for instance Ceremonium's materials as it was equally fast and technical (although stylistically a bit different) but also playing in the remaining three bands The Dying Light's crew could learn very well how to execute brutal music. The results of several years' experiences are fabulous.

In my eyes the proof that The Dying Light was formed by matured musicians is the fact that the CD lasts 26 minutes, not let's say 45 or 50. They knew when to stop. Therefore this intense music, not being very diverse, isn't boring even awhile. The comparison in this case can be only one: "Reign in Blood". To make this review complete, I have to praise the dynamic guitar-work and insane drumming as well as harsh vocals. My duty is also to tell you that the album is professionally released (very interesting layout) and recorded (by Erik Rutan in his Dimensional Sound Studios). Undoubtedly, this album is the brilliant example how to blend technical mastery, outstanding song writing and brutality in its pure form.

Taken from: www.geocities.com/deathmetalside

This insane band features members whose involvement in Cattle Press, Ceremonium, Hemlock, and Ripping Corpse should speak volumes.  I wasn't sure what to expect from 'em, but holy shit is this one of the best records I've heard in a long time!  They sound sort of like a more twisted and creative early 90's death metal band with completely fucked up vocal screams and a better sense of unusual melody.  Musically it's generally precise, raw death metal with a little bit of a classic 80's thrash vibe... but tracks like "Warstrike" throw in some slower dissonant riffs as well as some technical picking patterns to spice things up. 

The high-pitched Tom Araya "Aaaaaarrrggghhh!" screams (You know, the one in "Angel of Death", you fuckin' idiot.) start in "Seven" and reoccur somewhat often throughout some of the following tracks.  "The Idol Usurped" is just a fucking masterpiece, though.  The riffing is totally bizarre but so powerful that I can't even explain it.  It's probably the most melodic of the tracks, and it's certainly the best·  There's just a lot of overall complexity and force going on throughout the entire record.  The guitar playing is tight and diverse (with shitloads of solos that vary from the chaotic and Slayer-esque to the more conceived), the vocalist is a madman, and the drummer is god damn machine: His playing is tight as shit, the fills are interesting, and he always accentuates the songs rather than just trying to show off like a lot of drummers of such a high caliber would do. 

The production is good, but it needs a little bit of work to really do the full amount of damage.  The drums are slightly over rigid (barely - at least the tones accentuate the masterful performance), the bass is pretty damn hard to make out, and the guitar tone is very unusual.  I can get used to the guitar tone without effort, so I think all I'd do is give some definition to the bass and warm up those drum tones somehow.  I don't know· something's missing, but it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things because the songs just fucking kill.  The artwork is awesome, all of the paintings are pretty stylized (combined with some black and white photography) but the approach and color scheme are consistent and the outcome looks fucking excellent.  Inside the digipack are two panels of lyrics and under the CD tray is a typical "old school thrash photo collage".  If you listen to 80's thrash, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 

The lyrics are pretty wild and deal almost exclusively with violent apocalyptic visions, "Come fools wash away in your own pity my relief it lays to suffocate it looks to kill in garlands of urine in the garden of sodomy in selfishness crowned and kissed Armageddon I summon thee in this living hell steel taste of power initiate, infect, in hell solitary death bestow manic the fall."  Just get this fuckin' CD and don't be a spineless pansy.  This band rages like few others still do, so unless you're a total fuckin' dork who'd rather listen to third-rate hacks rehash "Altars of Madness" you should track this disc down immediately·

Running time - 26:02, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Bloodbath, Warstrike, The Idol Usurped, The First Waters]

taken from: www.aversiononline.com

You know, I may get some shit for this, but in my honest opinion The Dying Light may very well be the finest band playing Metal in NYC. Formed in 2001 from the remains of cult bands such as Hemlock and Cattlepress, The Dying Light have unleashed a near masterpiece of Extreme Metal mixing elements of 80's Thrash and modern Black and Death Metal with catchy riffs and a vocalist from the pits of hell. This self-released digipack cd will no doubt lead TDL to bigger and better things, I'm sure of it. Pick this up or die.

taken from: www.static-void.com
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