Gothenburg, Sweden, has a rich history when it comes to producing bands, and is well known for its music scene. Bands such as IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILITY, ENGEL, AT THE GATES (I could go on) have all emerged from this Swedish stronghold of heavy music and have paved the way for many more bands to follow in their footsteps. One of the bands looking to make a breakthrough, are DEAD BY APRIL. After forming in 2007 and undergoing a handful of line-up changes, we find them settled in 2014 releasing album number three; “Let The World Know”. What is it they are trying to share?
Track one, “A Beautiful Nightmare” starts off softly, but soon descends into a djent/electronica mash up, mini breakdowns coupled with pop synthesizers, the odd flash of dub, added to the dual vocal displays of Zandro Santiago and Christoffer Andersson (the former on clean vocals, the latter on screaming) make for an enjoyable listen. You can hear a great deal of In Flames in Andersson’s vocals, with Santiago carrying a fine melody, a voice that could so easily be utilized in mainstream dance/pop music but instead being put to good use.
“Done With Broken Hearts” holds back on the guitars and focusses more on harmony, a little blatant use of auto-tune on the vocals here and there, but it’s still a strong track and a potential single waiting to be released. “As A Butterfly” has a similar feel to it, very melodic generally, and would actually of fallen into a different genre of music had it not been for the occasional input of Andersson.
The title track again, has a heavy focus on the keyboards and melody with only the occasional hint at DBA being a genuine rock band, with “Peace Of Mind”, despite having more breakdowns and riffs, still manages to be no more than a heavy pop song.
Generally speaking, what Dead By April have done, is take influence from many great local bands that have gone before them, added that influence to a burning desire for success (I won’t say fame, fame is cheap, success means something) and have aimed to be as mainstream as they can get away with, whilst retaining an edgy rock attitude. In a nutshell, they are a pop band that doesn't really want to admit it. Sure, this is an enjoyable listen and, it’s well worth checking out, there are a lot of decent songs on this album, but you can’t help but feel that right now they are torn between genres. If that’s what the band are looking to accomplish then, they've ticked that box without a shadow of a doubt, but, I can assure you, many a fan of rock music will frown upon this album. They've got the vocalist in Andersson, they have the riffs and breakdowns, but have opted to play it safe, and while that may be understandable in terms of chart positioning, it doesn't necessarily mean people are going to care about album four. Dead By April are treading a fine line right now. All they've let the world know is they want some attention, and they've got it, but will it last? [7]
Download "Let The World Know" on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/let-the-world-know/id780082457
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/deadbyapril
Track one, “A Beautiful Nightmare” starts off softly, but soon descends into a djent/electronica mash up, mini breakdowns coupled with pop synthesizers, the odd flash of dub, added to the dual vocal displays of Zandro Santiago and Christoffer Andersson (the former on clean vocals, the latter on screaming) make for an enjoyable listen. You can hear a great deal of In Flames in Andersson’s vocals, with Santiago carrying a fine melody, a voice that could so easily be utilized in mainstream dance/pop music but instead being put to good use.
“Done With Broken Hearts” holds back on the guitars and focusses more on harmony, a little blatant use of auto-tune on the vocals here and there, but it’s still a strong track and a potential single waiting to be released. “As A Butterfly” has a similar feel to it, very melodic generally, and would actually of fallen into a different genre of music had it not been for the occasional input of Andersson.
The title track again, has a heavy focus on the keyboards and melody with only the occasional hint at DBA being a genuine rock band, with “Peace Of Mind”, despite having more breakdowns and riffs, still manages to be no more than a heavy pop song.
Generally speaking, what Dead By April have done, is take influence from many great local bands that have gone before them, added that influence to a burning desire for success (I won’t say fame, fame is cheap, success means something) and have aimed to be as mainstream as they can get away with, whilst retaining an edgy rock attitude. In a nutshell, they are a pop band that doesn't really want to admit it. Sure, this is an enjoyable listen and, it’s well worth checking out, there are a lot of decent songs on this album, but you can’t help but feel that right now they are torn between genres. If that’s what the band are looking to accomplish then, they've ticked that box without a shadow of a doubt, but, I can assure you, many a fan of rock music will frown upon this album. They've got the vocalist in Andersson, they have the riffs and breakdowns, but have opted to play it safe, and while that may be understandable in terms of chart positioning, it doesn't necessarily mean people are going to care about album four. Dead By April are treading a fine line right now. All they've let the world know is they want some attention, and they've got it, but will it last? [7]
Download "Let The World Know" on iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/let-the-world-know/id780082457
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/deadbyapril
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