It Dies Today “Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads” Video
From “The Caitiff Choir”
It Dies Today “A Threnody for Modern Romance” Video
From “The Caitiff Choir”
FEATURED ARTIST
Born and bred among the Buffalo, NY hardcore scene IDT formed in August of 2001. The group was formed by vocalist, Nicholas Brooks, guitarist C ...(read more)
Hailing from Buffalo, NY, the quintet It Dies Today play the kind of metalcore that leaves broken hearts and bruised bodyparts in its wake, properly showcased on the band's 11-track THE CAITIFF CHOIR. Sounding similar to much of the current wave of metalcore, It Dies Today combine over the top screaming with melodic choruses on tracks like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" and "Marigold" for maximum power. Employing a punishing low end assault rounded out with thunderous drums, It Dies Today liberally borrow from bands like Atreyu, Thrice, and Zao and collectively create the sonic fury that makes for a competent offering, yet lack the distinctiveness to get the band on top of the heap.
I waited a few weeks to get this record and DAMN was it worth a wait. I can't really say anything bad about this cd. The disc starts off with a hardcore intro type track and then moves on to a track called "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads". One thing that impresses me so much is the bands capability of creating music so hardcore yet so melodic. Every track leaves an impression on me because the tracks are so damn catchy, its hard to stop it. There is something with this band that can get to anyone who likes any genre of rock. This record is hardcore enough for the metal heads yet melodic enough for the alternative-rock fans.
Despite a harsh review on punkrocks.net, you can put that all away and just give this album a chance. On their cover it says "Crushing metal guitars fused with melodic hooks and epic choruses, Buffalo, NY's finest deliver their amazing debut" defines this album to perfection. My favorite songs off this cd must be: "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads", "The Radiance", "A Threnody For Modern Romance", "Marigold", and Freak Gasoline Fight Accident". Although there was a few changes to the songs "Marigold" and "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident", theres no reason to hate this music simply because it's so damn good.
The maniacal charge of upstate New York act It Dies Today is a volatile concoction of Meshuggah-inspired riffs, metallic angst, and hardcore might: A truly powerful dose of momentum not for the faint of heart. The crushing opener, "My Promise," starts the band off and running from the get-go, but as the album progresses, a healthy heaping of melody douses the aggressive nature of the band, skillfully bringing out a unique sound/style. Stunning stuff indeed, especially on the wicked "A Threnody for Modern Romance." While the production of the album is a little spotty, high marks go to the band for making the best of their situation and hitting a bulls-eye with their creative impulses. Bravo!
Buffalo's hardcore scene has sent us yet another sweet hardcore band this time in the form of IT DIES TODAY. Kicking around since 2001 the band's first release on Trustkill Records, THE CAITIFF CHOIR is a straightforward hardcore record that delivers as expected. You should know what you are getting into when buying a cd by a band called T DIES TODAY called CAITIFF CHOIR: great breakdowns, sweet solos, a good amount of screaming involving morbid lyrics and failed relationship with some catchy singing on the choruses. The band doesn't really push the envelope, because as they say "if it isn't broke don't fix it." On pretty much every song the band brings a ton of great breakdowns and sing along choruses ready made for the pit at their next show in a dark basement or church. Standout tracks are "The Radiance" which brings you a little more singing but with plenty of back up screaming ala Atreyu. Overall CAITIFF CHOIR is a good hardcore record that is worth listening to. It lives up to the standards set by the scene and put their own little morbid spin on it. It's not a huge departure musically by any means but it's fun to listen to if you are in need of some head banging while writing a paper late at light or just in general.
Hailing from new York, IT DIES TODAY'S new release THE CAITIFF CHOIR is a much better, more solid releases than their first studio material FOREVER SCORNED. Some songs on the album like "My Promise" and " The Depravity Waltz" are all out in your face hardcore tunes, in the vein of Unearth. These songs are definitely my personal favorites on the album. These tracks feature slow paced, thick, heavy, danceable breakdowns, I love it. Then you have songs like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" "The Radiance" and "The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism" all being very melodic vocally, somewhat melodic musically. There are also tracks, which have a very Swedish sound to them. Titles like "Freak Gasoline Accident" express this perfectly. This is an awesome album. I overlooked this album for a while after not being all that impressed with FOREVER SCORNED. This band has definitely matured a lot since then. There are three basic sides to this band, the melodic emocore sounding material, the heavy brutal hardcore sound, and the definite European influence present on this album. I am very impressed with this album. I would definitely prescribe it to fans of bands such as HATEBREED and UNEARTH. I love the awesome soupy breakdowns. Songs like "Marigold" display a terrifying brutal sound. While songs like "A Threnody for Modern Romance" give you their softer more melodic driven hardcore sound. The only thing dislike about this album is the overall unoriginality. I don't see much this band could do to improve that though. In conclusion, if you are a fan of metal core, definitely pick this up. If you are expecting a pure hardcore album, you won't be too impressed. I thought this album was great, and it's definitely worth buying. I've found this on hourly rotation on my play list this past week. Great album. Buy it.
Not being into metal core and having little knowledge of metal core bands, reviewing a cd with "THE NEW FACE OF METALCORE" pasted across the cover didn't seem very promising. And in all reality I wasn't looking forward to it. But a few minutes into the cd I was blown away. Pounding growls, heavy riffs, and deep lyrics seems to outline what IT DIES TODAY is all about-the music, which is what some bands seem have to lost interest in. the band first saw its roots in August of 2001, with Nick Brooks, Mike Hatalak and Steve Lemke. Mike and Steve were pounding on guitar and nick was on lead vocals, with an original bass player and drummer who are beyond my knowledge. They toured for three years before picking up some new faces and signing to Trustkill Records. The new faces include current drummer nick mirrors and current guitarist Chris Cappelli, while former guitarist Steve Lemke took over on bass. The band was finally complete and their debut album THE CAITIFF CHOIR was released on Trustkill Records September 2004. THE CAITIFF CHOIR is a tough blend of hard, fast metal, with melodic vocals and deep growls. The first few tracks draw you in, but the tracks farther into this cd are what truly make this cd great. The track "A Threnody For Modern Romance" is what made me realize that these guys knew their instruments...and solos. I couldn't believe it-original metal solos! Sure you can hear some solos till around today if you really want to sit through the pain of THE DARKNESS. This in itself shows you that these guys stick to their true metal roots. Another of my favorites from this album is the track "Freak Gasoline Accident" this track is just brutal. You can tell from the very opening that this song could tear your face off. Fast guitar riffs and pounding double bass, and the deep screams coming from nick's gut make this song one of my favorites. This album was one of the best metal core albums of the past year, and seeing no other metal core band looking to lead the genre into a new direction, will IT DIES TODAY step up to the plate? I would strongly advise -no. I'm telling you now, go out and buy this cd. You will not be let down. You can expect to hear IT DIES TODAY for a long time to come.
As told by abrasive opener "My Promise," it would appear that, unlike other wussy bands like Unearth and Killswitch Engage, It Dies Today doesn't waste precious time with silly frills like melody and traditional song structures. But then Mr. Prospective Single comes a-knocking in the shape of the cleverly titled but predictably sweetened "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" to prove such claims of inaccessibility were a tad premature after all. Sure enough, ensuing offerings such as "The Radiance," "A Threnody for Modern Romance," and the two-part title song prescribe much the same medicine as most contemporary American metal bands: a volatile cocktail of soul-searching lyrics, harmonically dense guitar riffs, and musical vocals, interchanged with equal measures of crushed larynx grunting, full-mosh outbursts, and, occasionally, a surprise passage. In terms of the latter, the first breaks down for a momentary slice of atmospheric near-silence, the second contains a spate of punk-like shout-outs, and the last pair spew out a mind-bogglingly verbose show of wordplay along with interesting use of backing synthesizer strains. As is often the case with metalcore acts, distinctively metallic influences such as flashy guitar playing and actual solos are the exception, not the rule, and often to be found buried deeper in the mix -- as if the members of It Dies Today are a little self-conscious of their respectability factor. Of course, the group is simultaneously reckless about its far more frequent lyrical transgressions, as if pretentious moralizing is defensible where pyrotechnic guitars are not. No matter, as the final balance here is of a solid if unspectacular album where the pieces -- impressively diverse though they might be -- never quite gel into truly unforgettable tunes. If nothing else, the band's ability and promise are without question, boding well for things to come.
Buffalo's It Dies Today are the perfect example of a "typical" Trustkill band. Now that's not an insult by any stretch. The New Jersey label, which has been specializing in some of the best underground hardcore and metal core for the past ten years, having released albums by Poison the Well, Walls of Jericho and Nora just to name a few, helps define a culture and a scene. The kids who comprimise It Dies Today are in their late teens, but apparently they've been seriously studying metalcore. The Catiff Choir bludgeons with moshable breakdowns, but the album abounds with melodic choruses that are so catchy, they will take up real estate in your brain for days at a time. While the word "threnody" in the title of track five has us scratching our heads ( and we're writers!!!), The Catiff Choir is a solid and mature debut. Now get in the pit or else!
A band like IT DIES TODAY is damn near impossible to pigeonhole into one specific genre. In fact any one song on THE CAITIFF CHOIR has multiple influences that range from punk to emo to the metal core foundation that drives IDT. For those people who like Atreyu, but needed something heavier, ITD is the band for you. These guys are probably one of the first to parallel Avenged Sevenfold in overall sound. Think something along the lines of Avenged, just without as many classical Guns & Roses influences. The CAITIFF CHOIR is chock full of energy and raw power, but soothes out at times with clean sung vocals. IT DIES TODAY is definitely an emotionally dark and dismal band, attacking the blasphemy, selfishness and sickness of the world we live in. much of the lyrical content is rather broad, but one can get an idea of the anger these guys are emitting. Musically, THE CAITIFF CHOIR is driven by almost flawless double bass drumbeats that are simply unrelenting. "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident" offers Uzi-like drum lines, while "The Depravity Waltz" contains percussion riffage that seems humanly impossible. "A Threnody for a Modern Romance" brings back a sample of hair metal guitar solos along with a fist pumping, sing a long ending. The staccato guitars add the speed and ferocity to THE CAITIFF CHOIR and add definitive hooks in all the right places. The vocals are dominated by thick growling screams as seen on songs like, "Sever Ties Yield Severed Heads" and "The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism". Other songs like "Marigold" and "The Radiance" feature anthem like sung vocals that give IT DIES TODAY a mainstream appeal. Lyrically, it's obvious that IT DIES TODAY are good wordsmiths. The lyrics can best be compared to that of ALKALINE TRIO, containing educated metaphors and lines that are seriously disturbing like "ignite the funeral pyre, and lets close the casket lid on everything." Overall, IT DIES TODAY'S Trustkill Records release is a powerful one. I give THE CAITIFF CHOIR an 8 out of 10. Their unrelenting and non-cookie cutter song structure is something we don't see much of these days. I'm sure we'll be hearing more of these guys in the months ahead.
Ooooh, damn these metalcore kids! One look at the arty packaging, snide-looking young faces, ironic ties, pretentious song titles and bad haircuts, and I wanted to stomp a big figurative mudhole in this band's ass. But three songs in, I'm grudgingly forced to admit that the little peckerwoods are pretty damn good. The Caitiff Choir is at least as good as the latest Killswitch Engage, and it surpasses the overhyped new Shadows Fall record, focusing less on guitar acrobatics and more on breakdowns and vocal hooks. The problem is (and hey, it may not even be a problem for you), this is utterly textbook. You know when the clean vocals are coming, you can predict the breakdowns, and the closest thing the band comes to taking chances is the keyboard part in the ending of "The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism." It's really well done (see "The Radiance" and the insufferably titled "A Threnody For Modern Romance" for two of the best metalcore songs you'll hear all year), but it's such a formula at this point. It may not seem fair to judge the band in the context of the reeking glut of similar bands out right now, but no one releases albums in a vacuum. It Dies Today stick to the genre conventions like glue and do nothing to give the sound their own personal spin. That they do it better than the darlings of the scene is admirable, but in the grand scheme of things, probably irrelevant. Want justice? Watch Matlock. A caitiff, by the way, is a despicably cowardly person. They got me on that one. Knowing most metalcore lyrics, I was expecting it to be an amalgam of two obsessed-over ex-girlfriends, Caitlin and Tiffany.
Born and raised in the Buffalo scene, IT DIES TODAY, since August of 2001 have taken on the task of spreading their melodic gospel, vastly found amidst their Trustkill Records debut THE CAITIFF CHOIR. Geared with gripping guitars and epic choruses, IT DIES TODAY now in their twenties has found the driving force in which they plan to pursue, modern metal and hardcore, on a transcending of. Showcasing a powerful and driving album, IT DIES TODAY start off THE CAITIFF CHOIR with none other than "My Promise" catchy drums sections, throaty vocals and melody driven guitars only hint at what the rest of this album is going to sound like. Following up "My Promise" IT DIES TODAY unleash the gruesomely title "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads". Filled with hook after hook makes for one of the stanout tracks portrayed on THE CAITIFF CHOIR. Few tracks down the lines comes "A Threnody for a Modern Romance" mor or less IT DIES TODAY'S call to fame with air play for the video on such stations as the ever popular MTV and even placement on a number of big name samplers, more notably Trustkill's sampler CD and AMP Magazine's 40,000 is distribution sampler. Irregardless of publicity, "A Threnody for a Modern Romance" deserves the attention largely for its mainstream ready sound. Continuing the trend of modern metal hardcore, "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident" takes to the metal stage and, through a number of deep, brutally passionate melodies, a decent yet mesmerizing song is churned out. With no appearances of slowing down anytime soon, "Our Disintegration," takes on the role of catering to the metal crowd once again as IT DIES TODAY ravae cnd cripple with breakdown after breakdown. Ending THE CAITIFF CHOIR, IT DIES TODAY yields one more hard, melodic and imperious track of hardcore laden riffs, screams and drumming. Backed by one of the leading independent hardcore labels the scene has seen to date, IT DIES TODAY are nothing short of an astounding act, easily viable to be one of the next big things that the metal and hardcore scene will withness. THE CAITIFF CHOIR is nothing short of astonishing and should be taken seriously, much like IT DIES TODAY'S dedication to supporting their craft.
It Dies Today sound right at home on Trustkill Records, with The Caitiff Choir having an emphasis on soaring melodic vocals juxtaposed with- you guessed it- metalcore growl, strewn atop a mixture of mosh, death and stomp. There's the staccato pummel of "My Promise" alongside the Eighteen Visions-lite of "The Radiance". Do they do it well? Sure. And therein lies It Dies Today's problem: In adhering so skillfully to the genre's formula, they rarely excel beyond its limits- with the album's seven-and-a-half minute closing jam being one of the notable exceptions. If It Dies Today aspire to be a second-tier addition to an overstuffed genre, they've succeeded. But if they grab a better hold of their melodic hooks, we'll remember The Caitiff Choir as a promise of things to come.
Buffalo's It Dies Today has been at it for a long time now. Forming in 2001, the band has been working their asses off on the road and in the studio trying to find a label. After releasing their 6 song CDEP "Forever Scorned" in 2002, they had alot of label attention but didn't find themselves a solid label. Last year, they finally found a place they could call home and they didn't have to look far from their hometown. Signing with New Jersey's Trustkill Records, the band immediately entered the recording studio to record their debut "The Caitiff Choir." I popped their disc into my CD player and was immediately met by low and chugging guitars, a pummeling drum/bass section and some fierce and catchy vocals. Imagine honest and technical metal core with duel scream/sing vocals, solid lyrics played and performed with a lot of aggression and heart. Musically, it's kind of like Killswitch Engage, Bleeding Through, older Eighteen Visions, older Thrice and even Atreyu (which a lot of people will write them off as another Atreyu but IDT is a lot harder and more sincere). The brutal opener "My Promise" immediately catches you off guard with a huge breakdown for the beginning. The part kind of reminded me of Meshuggah but slowly it turned into their own style. It Dies Today covers a lot of metal ground on their debut, everything from huge mosh parts, breakdowns, sing a longs, technical riffage, and even the occasional solo. The best songs on the record are: the heavy and very melodic "The Depravity Waltz," the fast and brutal (even has a nice sing a long and a solo) "A Threnody For Modern Romance," the straight forward and kind of Thrice-esque "Marigold," and the mosh friendly "Freak Fight Gasoline Accident." The only gripe I had against this record is the recording. It's pretty decent and heavy but there's are times when it lacks. The vocals are low in some parts and alot of the emphahsis seems to be on the riffs from time to time. I don't know, maybe it's just me but it's not too big of a deal. The recording definately gets the point across. "The Caitiff Choir" is 11 tracks filled swift and powerful drums, thundering bass lines and catchy yet heavy riffs and throaty and pissed vocals. If you like metal core, solid riffs and the occasional massive breakdown, I'd recommend that you give It Dies Today a listen. Nothing earth shattering but definitely a solid and good record. One of the better Trustkill bands and releases.
Orange County Metalcore From Buffalo: Heavy music is experiencing a metalcore zeitgeist where a plethora of band are pumping out music, and the sheer volume or releases could start to have an assembly line, cookie cutter feel. It Dies Today has all the qualities of, well, Orange County, California metalcore: metallic riffs, spine snapping breakdowns, and clean melodic vocal passages. These guys have everything in common with Atreyu, Bleeding Through, Eighteen Visions, and Throwdown, all the way down to their black eyeliner and chipped nail polish. Only It Dies Today calls the cold city of Buffalo home. What It Dies Today has going for it is the Linkin Park style choruses that singer Nicholas Brooks belts out. These singsong parts are larger than life, and they're catchier than an STD in a brothel. Like Atreyu, It Dies Today knows how to break out a thrashy 80s metal solo. Extra points for keeping the album at 11 tracks; this record doesn't overstay its welcome, either. The Caitiff Choir does have moments where it feels a little too serious and a little full of itself (SAT words in song titles, mostly), but the album doesn't buckle from that minor weakness. It Dies Today are metalcore pin ups with a fashionable look and sonic style to boot.
The new breed of metalcore is here!' declares the cover sticker. Well, as Zack de la Rocha once proclaimed: 'here comes the new sound / just like the old sound'. Don't get me wrong, 'The Caitiff Choir' is a fine album, incredibly assured even, but there's nothing even remotely new on offer here, dancing as it does the well-worn post-hardcore / metalcore boards we've come to know so well. Judas Priest riffs thunder into Thrice choruses throughout, hopelessly unimaginative clever-clever titles play on the atypical lyrical anguish ('Severed Ties Yield Severed Head', 'A Threnody for Modern Romance'), so far so bog standard. Only when it tries something a bit different, such as the melodic flourish of 'Marigold', does 'The Caitiff Choir' really seem to come into its own, yet it's not a trick that's often repeated. But for every kids at a loss with Hopesfall's new 'mature' direction, It Dies Today are at least on hand to ensure they dye another day.
First, what would be expected of a new It Dies Today CD after 2002's Forever Scorned? What I foresaw was another fairly typical metalcore album with unrelenting breakdowns, and the occasional token melody. But wait, with The Caitiff Choir, It Dies Today pulls a punch and makes a very mature metalcore album, with catchy hooks while still not straying too far away from the absolutely brutal breakdowns the band is known for. After getting signed to Trustkill Records, I think, anyone who knew anything about It Dies Today was a bit skeptical as to weather this new album would be just another metalcore band gone nu-metal after signing to Trustkill. It Dies Today, however, have broken the slump of the recent Trustkill signings by releasing an album that combines the old elements of It Dies Today, while throwing in some hooks so catchy you'd think they were straight from pop punk songs. The first track, "My Promise", starts of in typical IDT fashion with a massive breakdown to begin off the CD. Upon first listen, I almost dismissed this album as another disposable metalcore band. Simply because of the first song, it's good, just nothing new. However, then comes the song "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads," the second track on the album. It begins with the same crushing guitar riffs and middle ground growling vocals. Then a complete blindside of melody, it's almost like your ears do a double take. The great thing about the melodic parts in this album is they written almost like they were hooks for pop songs, which makes it so that you can't help but sing along after you learn the words. The rest of the album continues on about the same way singing, screaming, and chugging is way through eleven wonderfully written songs. This album has given me new faith for Trustkill records.
Fans of post hardcore/ metalcore themed music will really enjoy the latest effort from the group It Dies Today. It is obvious that the group put a great deal of time and effort into the songwriting as they so masterfully display on tracks like 'Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads' and 'A Threnody For Modern Romance'. Juxtaposed rhythms and riffs like the ones the band has crafted on 'The Radiance' do not just fall together easily. When groups play with this sort of dynamics, it is easy for critics to shrug it off, as if it were simple to write this kind of material. That said a band that not only invests the time in writing quality music, but actually manages to pull it off without a hitch in the studio is not as commonplace as some metal critics would have you believe. A lot of writers have been dismissing a lot of great bands as simply average, being that metalcore has exploded as one of the hottest forms of music in the past couple of years. It can be a chore for producers to get the performance out of bands that It Dies Today displays of the vibrant and edgy 'Marigold'. In all actuality, the songs on 'The Caitiff Choir' are for the most part very solid throughout the album. The record takes as few twists and turns that you might not expect, making for a compelling and ultimately satisfying metal listen. 'Freak Gasoline Fight Accident' initiates as a complete house burner, with a speedy intro that Cataract devotees would flock to. 'Our Disintegration' kicks in with a madly thrashing riff, while vocalist Nicholas Brooks devours the mic with bruising, contempt filled conjurations. There are some great harmony vocals on the melodic parts that, in tandem with the band's war machine riffing, offer up some of the strongest points of the album. If you are a follower of aggressive music accented with flavors of metal, hardcore, punk and modern rock, 'The Caitiff Choir' is a record you'll really groove on. An extremely relevant album in the realm of hard music that you'll surely not wish to miss.
Lots and lots of people sweated this bands debut record on Life Sentence Records, and I'm just as guilty as everybody else is. I thought it was one of the best metalcore records on the market at the time, but what they've done with The Caitiff Choir, is shown their versatility and style as a band. From Forever Scorned to now, yes, they've dropped SOME! of the brutality like a rock for a much more well rounded sound, that fits them more and, to be quite honest, is a much more marketable. I'm not saying that It Dies Today sold out by any means. If you listen to the cd, it's still crushing as all get out, but you'll also hear melodic hooks and bits, as well as some sludgy chunks in it. And I would go as far as to say that this shows their maturity as a band and as individuals. While metalcore is fun and great, everyone grows out of it at some point, and moves on to something else. That's the natural progression of life. So, if you're looking for a repeat of Forever Scorned, I'm sorry, this is not it. But I would venture to say that this record is ten times what the first EP was. So, when you hit up Best Buy, or just about any major store, check and see if they've got this. There's some clean singing, but it's done tastefully.
Half hardcore, one quarter metalcore, and one quarter screamo, It Dies Today is absolutely one of the year's best new bands. Doubtless they will be compared to bands like As I Lay Dying, Zao, Norma Jean, and Dead Poetic. Still, It Dies Tonight really raises the bar for hardcore and all of its subgenres. One thing IDT accomplishes, something that most hardcore bands fail at miserably, is a good background vocal track. They actually sing on key. Believe it._Chris Capelli and Mike Hatalak will completely destroy you with their guitars. Track 7 (Freak Gasoline Fight Accident) has this unbelievable, high-octane solo in the beginning. Top it off with Nick Brooks' haunting, raspy vocals, Nick Mirusso's tight technical drumming, and Steve Lemke on bass, and you've got a CD, nay, a band, that will quickly become one of your favorites.
It must be difficult being a new band on Trustkill, a label that signed, honed and launched Poison the Well, Eighteen Visions and more on an unsuspecting world. It's a label that sets trends rather than follows them and will receive lofty praise when the history books are written. It Dies Today don't need to progress the metal-hardcore hybrid any further, as classics like Eighteen Vision's 'Until the Ink Runs Out' and Poison the Well's 'The Opposite of December' have already been released. All they have to do is continue to uphold the name and quality associated with the Trustkill legacy. 'The Caitiff Choir' does this- crisply produced and deliciously heavy it ebbs and flows with venom whilst maintaining a healthy sense of melodic crossover. It simply serves as a reminder of how far Trustkill has come and a pointer to how far this band can go.
It was certainly not exaggerated to pin big hopes on IT DIES TODAY and when it became known that the band had signed with Trustkill Records, the expectations became additionally bigger only due to this reason. As was shown by the past years, this label has produced highlights of the Hard- and Metalcore genre only. Furthermore the debut "Forever Scorned" (2002) with six tracks released via Life Sentence Records was very promising. However "The Caitiff Choir" by far exceeds all expectations and even the most daring prognosis barely does justice to the songs performed here. To cut it short, IT DIES TODAY managed to strike a sweeping blow that even surpasses bands like UNEARTH, EIGHTEEN VISIONS, ATREYU, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE or SHADOWS FALL. The five musicians hailing from Buffalo don't need to fear comparisons to other representatives of the genre anyway, because "The Caitiff Choir" has just turned out too overwhelming for that and defies them already at the start. The new masterpiece continues the path chosen with the debut, yet it differs heavily from the old compositions. It is up to you if you see this as a natural process of maturing or as an ordinary evolution. The principal difference of the new songs is first of all, that they focused attention on melodic accents, be it vocally or musically. In a way these accents can be traced back to the line-up changes. Steve Lemke buckled on the bass instead of the guitar, former bassist Seth Thompson left the band and in Mike Hatalak they got the necessary reinforcement on guitars and thus closed the gap perfectly. To not put the musical evolution too far to the fore at the beginning, IT DIES TODAY have chosen a brutish opening track which tears off your head in the guise of "My Promise". Thus "The Caitiff Choir" is an almost seamless follow-up of "Forever Scorned" and lets it rip monstrously at the beginning already. Extremely heavy riffs grind the auditory center, desperate howling implies big frustration with the frontman and the uncompromising interaction of hammering bass sounds and filigrees like powerful drumming quickly make it clear that this band wants it all. Simply breathtaking, including mean brutal breakdowns. With "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" they inject beautiful melodies for the first time and vocalist Nick Brooks overwhelms the listener with grandiose clear vocal passages. From this moment on much is different from what you were used to from the debut and especially in these moments it becomes obvious that "The Caitiff Choir" doesn't equal a hasty release in any way, but that they have been composing with huge dedication during the last two years. With IT DIES TODAY, the saying "opposites attract" hits the nail that is cited so often on the head. But "The Radiance" already shows that the band has even more surprises up their sleeves, because the portion of melodic parts is once again increased here, and if you didn't know exactly that a Metalcore band is playing here, you would almost be tempted to label this song a moving New Metal anthem. Already after the first audio attack the chorus doesn't leave your head anymore and thus the Americans walk through that many emotions in only three songs that your flesh crawls with excitement. With "The Depravity Waltz" they stop being comfortable and shift into the next gear in terms of heaviness. Arranged complexly and shockingly thick, this track rolls over you without hesitation. "A Threnody For Modern Romance" seduces the listener with seemingly Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal riffs and once again it becomes clear that IT DOES TODAY have more Metal in their blood and show this quite frankly. In terms of pleasure to play and dynamics, nothing can be improved here. "Marigold" can also be called an epic killer track, for the piercing vocals are to the fore here as well. The mourning chants wind smoothly around the highly technical music before the full load of Metal is hit over your head again in "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident". The heavily grooving mosh parts in the middle part and at the end of the song are blessed and make the diversity of IT DIES TODAY shine in full splendour again. It's the same with "The Caitiff Choir: Revelations" and even in a thousand years you don't think of boredom. It's quite astounding, for even towards the album's end, the quintet doesn't lack ideas. The suspense is maintained, the curiosity for the next track remains untroubled and immediately it goes on expertly like that with "Our Disintegration". Again razor-sharp guitars dominate the scenery and even the tightest Swedish lead of death bands a la AT THE GATES or DARK TRANQUILLITY may be quoted from and used as influences. "Naenia" begins almost rocking and it can be seen as an almost melancholic anthem of this band. Only short heavy rides dominate this melodic ear-wig and before you are aware of it, you have reached the end of one of the greatest albums of this year in "The Caitiff Choir: Defeatism", a momentous box on the ear. And thus one thing is certain and irrevocable, because another Metalcore band (not to be understood in a negative way) has turned into an outstanding band which has to be taken really seriously and which can compete with any formation from this genre, no matter how much it is praised. Those who classify the quite obvious evolution as a commercial change of direction, probably haven't listened carefully and should thus be condemned to absorbing this milestone another ten times before they will be allowed to judge IT DIES TODAY. "The Caitiff Choir" does justice to any superlatives down to the smallest detail and it leaves the reviewer numb with enthusiasm. Fantastic!!!
We have all heard the saying "don't judge a book by its cover." Well, that has never been more true than when I cracked open It Dies Today's first full length release, The Caitiff Choir. One look at the group photo and I thought "a bunch of hipsters trying to play hardcore." From the trendy hair styles to the ties, all the way down to the black finger nails, I thought for sure this one was gonna swiftly move from the CD player to the trash can. Needless to say, I was completely wrong. From the second the first note hit on "My Promise," my eyes widened and I could not help but think "this is fucking good!" Then again, I can't say that anything I have heard from the bands on Trustkill has been disappointing. IDT are ushering in a new era of hardcore: one of aggression mixed with melody and dueling vocals. Many bands have tried this mix and ended up running it into the ground, but It Dies Today does a good job of changing things up so the music doesn't become stagnant. However, toward the end of the album things get a little to far away from the hardcore aspect and dwell too much on the melodic side. But don't get me wrong: overall, the blend of palm muted e-chords and melodic harmonies mesh to make The Caitiff Choir a valiant first release.
This is a very impressive debut from Buffalo's It Dies Today. They are not dissimilar from Bleeding Through, in sound or appearance. There's clobbering bass and throaty vocals that sound like a bigger and meaner Jamey Hatebreed. They also utilize some sung vocals, as do most of Metalcore bands around today, and the band seems to have similar progression changes to something you find on the As I Lay Dying album. This should do really well with fans of Poison the Well. From Autumn to Ashes, and anyone looking for something a little heavier than Thrice.
It Dies Today's debut full-length album, The Caitiff Choir, is a surprisingly excellent addition to the releases of 2004. The band formed in 2001 with most of the members still at 16 years old, and three years later, they have teamed up with Trustkill Records to bring you one of the best new sounds in hardcore. The first track on The Caitiff Choir, "My Promise," seems to be a preview to a dark, angry 42 minutes. It is certainly energetic, but it forebodes an exhausting listening experience. However, as the drums roll into track two, "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads," the guitars become more upbeat, and Nick Brooks begins to show off his singing ability. The third song, "The Radiance," is positively lovely without being whiny or compromising the band's intensity. Throughout the album, bassist Steve Lemke, guitarists Mike Hatalak and Chris Cappelli, and drummer Nick Mirusso maintain their speed and precision. Despite their youth, the band members show plenty of maturity in the range of musical styles displayed. The album closes with "Defeatism," seven minutes and 39 seconds of anger, rhythmic shifts, and beauty. It Dies Today is a much-needed breath of fresh air in hardcore, and they have plenty of time to grow and become even better.
It Dies Today is what Atreyu would sound like if Atreyu was an honest band. It Dies Today aren't drenched in mascara, appealing to the masses by synthesizing metal and emo; rather Buffalo's favorite sons seek expression and that is the form their expression took. "You were the most beautiful name I've ever cursed" could be just another empty emo cliche, drained of all tangible meaning by lookalike bands, but It Dies Today emanates an refreshing virility. The Caitiff Choir is straight hard charging metalcore complete with the required heavy riffing guitars that give way like so much shoddily constructed scaffolding to half speed beats and melodious singalongs. The screaming that precedes such a breakdown doesn't sound overproduced, indeed the same can be said for the album as a whole. The noise remains spontaneous instead of losing its urgency from too much careful plotting. That is not to say that The Caitiff Choir is anything less than thoroughly thought out and beautifully designed. However, It Dies Today keeps its brutality relevant and its emotional outpouring heart rending. That is not an easy task today where it seems every band is trying to follow the formula (death in the band name) + (double bass pedal flailing) + (lyrics of killing) + (emo breakdowns). The downfall, if any, of It Dies Today and The Caitiff Choir is that they might be overlooked in an already crowded marketplace. If this happens it will be a sad occurrence, as It Dies Today does play by the formula, but their freshness, honesty, and crushing wall of noise push them above the rest. Look past cheap puns like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads," and the Zoolander reference "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident" found in the track listing, sit down with headphones or mosh your room, and join the Choir.
First, you get hit on the side of the head with the metalcore assault of the opening track. Then the melodic singing begins and you realize that this is a pretty god band. The interplay between the two vocal styles keeps the music from sounding stale and repetitive.
Ah metalcore, the crossbreed of two great forms of music to make one half-assed form of music. Taking nothing away from It Dies Today, whose Trustkill debut The Caitiff Choir might just be the second best metalcore album I have ever heard (to Unearth's The Oncoming Storm), but it's the genre itself that has hit a stale point. Being that I was of a hardcore kid than a metal kid, my favorites lean towards the straight-up thrash and fury numbers like the opener "My Promise," "The Caitiff Choir: Revelations," and what could be the best hardcore song I've heard all year, "The Depravity Waltz." These guys have an affinity for the slow, palm-muted break-downs, which are always effective at raising the hair on the back of my neck; unfortunately they also have an affinity for the melodic chorus. I will say this much, songs like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" and "Marigold" are extremely successful at melding the two genres together in new and exciting ways, providing great transitions and even a few guitar solos (something these bands forget exists in metal I suppose), but the rest of the disc seems to sway too much from one extreme to the other, without the consistency of the previously mentioned songs. The Thing is, It Dies Today could be the best heavy band out there, blowing bands like Killswitch Engage or Shadows Fall out of the collective metalcore waters, maybe if this tired genre goes away before their next release, we'll get to see it.
It Dies Today is another superior technical metal/ hardcore band from upstate New York. Along with bands like Ed Gein and Every Time I Die, It Dies Today are proving the two genres (metal and hardcore) can mix for a potent sound. The Caitiff Choir is the band's debut but due to several tours and a refining of their sound, it feels like the work of veterans. Much like A Life Once Lost and Blood Has Been Shed, It Dies Today are strongly influenced by Meshuggah.
Opening track "My Promise" sets the tone with sharp, brutal stop and go riffing. "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" has similar riffing but also sees It Dies Today incorporating emo vocals. Next is "The Radiance" which goes even further with the melody as it's practically all clean vocals. They turn around and get brutal on "The Depravity Waltz." This time the clean singing reminds me a lot of Snapcase's vocalist. There's a perfect balance of aggressive singing and clean on "A Threnody for Modern Romance." "Revelations" is a viciously intense collision of hardcore and Slayer. To show their range, It Dies Today returns to an emo style on "Naenia." It Dies Today is one of the best, most intense discs to come out this year. They're another of a handful of bands (A Life Once Lost, If Hope Dies, Blood Has Been Shed etc.) which are rejuvenating and progressing the genre.
Album Score: 9 out of 10
The rise in popularity of metalcore has reinvigorated the American metal scene, so much so that it is now being dubbed the "New Wave of American Heavy Metal." Bands like Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and Lamb Of God have helped put American metal back on the map, and the trickle down effect has given a wealth of bands opportunities and more importantly, audiences. Where there is a crowd, there are people willing to work to the crowd, and the folks at Trustkill Records have built a reputation over the years as certified crowd pleasers. Until recently, Trustkill had been cutting their teeth as one of the preeminent hardcore labels in the scene. Now they are branching out with different types of bands and after watching Bleeding Through blow up over the last year, Trustkill seems ready to take their next step into the metalcore market. Enter Buffalo, New York's It Dies Today, who's Trustkill debut "The Caitiff Choir" is sure to give them instant credibility in the American heavy metal scene. The kids in It Dies Today mean business, and it all starts with the deep and throaty screams of vocalist Nick Brooks. Brooks has the pipes to fit into any hardcore band. They are deep and bassy, and he'll be blazing along in a song and then... out of nowhere... he hits you with these sweet and infectious melodies that are such a change of pace they'll make you do a double take. I know his singing vocals, especially to this extent, are pretty new and widespread from the stuff that was on the "Forever Scorned" EP, but trust me, this is for the better. I absolutely love Nick's singing vocals and what they do for the overall sound on "The Caitiff Choir." Songs like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" and "The Radiance" get stuck in my head for hours on end because they are so hauntingly catchy. The chorus of "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident" is the same way, it just gets stuck up in my head and leaves me humming along out of nowhere, the song doesn't even have to be playing. If you like some beauty with your brute, you're going to dig this for sure. Backing Brooks are drummer Nick Mirusso, bassist Steve Lemke and guitarists Mike Hatalak and Chris Cappelli. They pretty much play the straight ahead metalcore you'd expect, blended with some In Flamesian riffs here and there. Case in point, the opening riff on "A Threnody for Modern Romance," it just reeks of In Flames, but hey, we all have influences, and that riff is every bit as infectious as any of Brooks vocals. I really dig the music on "The Caitiff Choir." It really works together well with the vocals and has that super catchy feel to it. All the breakdowns are sure to be crowd pleasers as well. I swear it seems like everything Trustkill touches turns to gold. Well folks, they've struck gold again with It Dies Today. The scary thing about It Dies Today is the fact that all of these dudes are 21 or younger. They've been a band for three years, and they've gotten this good, this fast, at this young an age. With all of that in mind, I have no doubt that this is the start of something big for the It Dies Today kids, because "The Caitiff Choir" is absolutely amazing. Fans of bands like Unearth, In Flames, and Lamb Of God will dig "The Caitiff Choir," which is in stores now.
Where there are hard times, there will be hard music. This applies to nowhere better than Buffalo, N.Y. The Queen City is known as prime breeding ground for hardcore bands, such as Buried Alive, Snapcase, and Every Time I Die calling Buffalo home. With such a prestigious heritage to live up to, It Dies Today return to the stage with their latest album off Trustkill records, "The Caitiff Choir." Known for beautifully written breakdowns and melodic verses that leave listeners breathless from moshing, IDT explodes into the first track, "My Promise." Nick Brooks' vocals erect the tiny hairs on the nape of the neck with his unbelievably powerful screams, while the slow, driving guitars massage adrenal glands awake. In true IDT fashion, this song never gives up until the end. The slow and punishing mosh breakdown of "The Depravity Waltz" will stir up the most intense circle pits, and the viciously elegant syncopation of guitarist Christopher Cappelli and drummer Nick Mirusso melts into each melodic, crushing verse. The opening drumroll of the eighth track, "The Caitiff Choir: Revelations," throws the listener into a soundscape of knifing guitars and Gatling gun bursts of double bass, coupled with a breakdown that will make anyone sing along and pound his fists in unison with Mirusso. However, the third and 10th tunes, "The Radiance," and "Naenia," stand in startling contrast to the IDT of old with their borderline emo feel, made possible by the replacement of heavy guitar riffs and throaty growls with punk-esque melodies and happy, almost tranquil singing. To go from orgasmic, woven metal to sissy sing-alongs and upbeat rhythms is just unacceptable, but fortunately, these two tracks are the only ones that contain this emo-Frankenstein rock. "The Caitiff Choir" is proof that IDT has grown beyond the splendor of their first album, but at what cost? Can the best hardcore only exist in chorus with the weakest emo? Either way, IDT is one of the best mosh bands out today. Any fan of groups like End This Day, Unearth, or Dead to Fall will find a new companion in "The Caitiff Choir."
It Dies Today have been a pretty solid band since inception, and adding to the fact that they reign within the Trustkill family only adds to their dominance. When the e-card was first released, I was listening to it pretty religiously and could not wait to hear more. Sometimes you just have a hunch about an upcoming record that you know it's going to own beyond your greatest imagination and that is exactly what It Dies Today have provided us with their new full length, "The Caitiff Choir". When the album opens with the track "My Promise", you immediately are graced with a series of killer breakdowns that lead into some awesome lead guitar action. The vocals from the band are solid, and just what you'd come to expect from a band of this calibre. I think right off the bat It Dies Today show that they respect both the ability to "chug" a song into submission, while still appealing to the most intricate of riffs. The balance between the two worlds is what makes metalcore such an awesome thing, and thus far this band have done themselves well in acheiving that goal. "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" offers a familiar attractiveness to it, in forms of power and brutality, but introduces the bands softer side, by calaborating smooth vocals in the midst of the hardcore style screaming. The moderation of the two prove to be an effective formula in giving the album a pretty nice feel. My favorite track off the album is actually track 3, "The Radiance", which is one of the more softer songs on the album, but I think it's luster lies in the fact that musically the song is brilliant. At about the 2:15 mark of the track, the song has a cross-over from heavy to a melancholy state for just a few seconds, but I appreciate when a band shows their talent by showing that they can effectively take a song in multiple directions and never lose any momentum. All around, I say this album is about as good as it gets in the way of metalcore right now. I think the record offers a little change from the otherwise normal sound most hardcore fans might be used to, and gives you a taste of something different. Some may feel that this album offers nothing else than any other band that tries to sing and scream amongst each other, but It Dies Today hasn't "sold out", or "toned down" in any means, the singing in the album is merely a complimentary variable that only adds to the already dominance of what they offer in terms of metal. Overall, I say you should pick up this album, or else you'll be garunteed to headline the "caitiff choir".
Staccato rhythms, jagged guitars and teeth into the jugular croaking blended with a pop-punk sheen present. The Caitiff Choir showcases a hopeful future for a genre that gets so bogged down in misery and street ethics. With that said, It Dies Today, has taken the ying and yang and created a shift in the genre. Much like the death metal of bands like Soilwork, In Flames and Children of Bodom, It Dies Today splatter the canvas with the choke hold barking hardcore is known for, with enough "clean" vocals to save itself from being stuck in a corner artistically. Nicholas Brooks may appear to be a character from "name me that WB show" but his juxtaposition from murderer to lovelorn pretty boy is a startling homage to judging a book.... Mix that with dual guitars that worship at the alter of sustain and bends and the combination is damned surly stuff. "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" cuts the night air like The Ripper but applies enough salve to the wound that it heals quite serenely. Yet, "The Depravity Waltz" is pure metal without one apology given, as is "A Threnody For Modern Romance" that equals Lamb Of God in the intensity stakes. But seriously though, "threnody", me thinks the dictionary was thumbed plenty that night. In addition check out that riff at the beginning of "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident", Chris Poland run and hide quick! Shit just rocks. Finally "Naenia" is a real toe-tapper much in the vein of Good Charlotte meets Hatebreed; fun but with a hair trigger temper. With hardcore constantly falling flat in its consistency or worse yet, originality, it's refreshing to hear a band like It Dies Today. They stick to the road but take enough side streets to prove that they know the town, but like a different route. This would work on Ozzfest and Warped equally, and today, being versatile is as important in music as multi-tasking is in the office.
Putting a sticker on the front of your album that proclaims "the new breed of metalcore is here" is a lot like walking through a minefield blindfolded - you're already limiting your chances in a dangerous situation. With their Trustkill debut, Buffalo, NY's It Dies Today have found themselves in just such a precarious position, and yet through confident footing and a refined take on some of the genre's better moments, they manage to make it through without losing an extremity. The listener on the other hand is a different story altogether. There are two things that make It Dies Today's latest a fairly enjoyable listen, one the sustained level of bruising aggression, and two the integration of melody that doesn't sound entirely feminine. Of course you'll still find traces of European-influenced staccato shredding in their guitar work, throaty barks and other trademark elements of the genre that have been driven into the ground. But on tracks like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads", the band bust out with disjointed melodies that almost bring to mind shades of Helmet's Page Hamilton, and it's moments like these that become their real strength. Unfortunately, the band do fall victim to a number of the genre's same old hang-up's. Repetition, similar sounding songs (though in the bands favor they aren't entirely predictable in the placement of their melodies), and a sound that is by no means revolutionary. There's even the cringe-worthy first single "A Threnody For Modern Romance" which sounds like a b-side from Atreyu's latest, complete with stomping 80's sing-along chorus. Still, all in all, as far as modern metalcore goes this album is a surprisingly satisfying listen. It may not exactly be the 'new breed' it was touted as, but it is by all means an above average hybrid.
Few bands of the metalcore genre, otherwise known as the 'New Breed of Heavy Music,' have sparked my interest in the past couple years. Bands like Bleeding Through and their eerie atmospheric take on punishing hardcore, and Killswitch Engage with their catchy hooks yet intense delivery, are a few of the bands that still keep me wanting more of this genre before it goes away. One of the bands that has since their inception is Buffalo's It Dies Today. This band has previously released an EP on Life Sentence Records and after extensive US touring, the band got picked up by the hardcore graveyard known as Trustkill. Although a certain commercial appeal is easily heard upon making it past the opening track, "My Promise," there are still more than enough chances to crush your fellow core alumni throughout this record. There are also more than enough chances to shed a tear, or raise your lit cigarette lighter/cell phone, or whichever comes first. Songs like "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads" explore a lyrical approach that could easily find it's way onto any Bleeding Through album or Remembering Never's "She Looks So Good In Red." Describing the darker aspects of humanity is a trait that listeners have come to expect from It Dies Today. You can literally feel the weight "Freak Gasoline Fight Accident," which has become a crowd favorite in the two+ years since it's been written and played live. The most notable change is the addtion of medodic hooks and powerful choruses into brutal and punishing sound. "A Threnody for Modern Romance" is also the band's first single, a prime example of the band sticking to their punishing roots, but incorporates almost Hoobastank-esque hooks with melodic vocals that would put even the drummer of Atreyu to shame. I think the track "Naenia" would've made a better single, but that's just me. Seriously though, the way the music industry has shifted recently into actually accepting what was at least once considered in my mind as "good" music, It Dies Today should be able to ride this new wave all the way to the mainstream (or at least onto one of the stages at next year's OzzFest). I was very excited to hear this record. I will be honest, I knew that it was going to be more melodic because that's just the nature of Trustkill's roster these days, an the scene to some extent. You have to have something that could be deemed as single worthy (unless you're Nora or have ex-members of some hardcore heavyweight) in order for this label to even look at you cross-eyed. But, I'm not going to fault them for that. This record kills inside and out all the way down to the stunning layout. There is something for everyone here. Any fans of Bleeding Through, Eighteen Visions or Remembering Never will instantly in love with It Dies Today and many more will too. Bottom Line: Trustkill, as un-hardcore as they've become, know what they are doing. They have a framework of what they are looking for in bands. It also doesn't hurt that they have Sony's money to help them secure a solid roster of bands either. But at any rate, this is the best Trustkill release since Harvest's "Living With A God Complex." I've already listened to it easily 20 times in just the 3 days that I've had it in my possession and I can't imagine a day without it in constant rotation. It's one of those records. I'm not saying that this record is for everyone because it's not. No record is. But, if you like any of the aforementioned bands, you will not be disappointed.
First of all, these band pictures are enough to turn me off, before I even get out of the gates. Attention all metalcore/screamo dudes: Skinny leather ties are out! I repeat: Out! Luckily, the band redeem themselves with a surprisingly multifaceted batch of songs on The Caitiff Choir. Apeshit breakdowns do sound a little comical spliced together with emotive harmonizing and those all-too-familiar "love gone wrong" lyrics, but not enough for Buffalo's It Dies Today to jump the fence into the land of self-parody. Close though. Best songs here are the ones where the band hones in on a melodic groove and steer clear of blender-core trappings, such as the, well, radiance of "The Radiance." A lot of tunes hint that these guys have been listening to just as much Boysetsfire as they have Poison the Well. Guess I could bombard you with stats on what cool fests these guys have played at, and all the metalcore biggies they've rubbed elbows with, but why bother? Solid metalcore/screamo. Enough said.
The Caitiff Choir from It Dies Today is what I can only describe as a guilty pleasure. I don't want to like, it, but no matter how hard I try, I can't escape the fact that I really enjoy listening to it. It Dies Today has produced a somewhat schizophrenic album in this latest full length. Hailed by their label as the new face of metalcore, I don't see that the album has done all that much to push the genre in new directions, but the band has found ways to recycle the sounds that were already there into a somewhat unique presentation. While the individual songs are good, the band never quite sets a defined tone for the album. Opening with a breakdown of epic proportion and moving quickly into extremely metal style verses, the band shows why they have been given the label of metalcore. The guitars pumped to maximum decibels and beating the listener into obedience they move seamlessly from the faster metal riffs into the slow methodical attacks of their hardcore counterparts. The vocals are strong, deep, and guttural, and it sounds as if this album is going to be one for the books as a brutal, never-ceasing attack of the heaviest nature. Enter the next two songs, "Severed Ties Yield Severed Heads", and "The Radiance". The songs are well written and have serious radio potential because of the incredible catchiness they possess. While the former continues to infuse the heaviness of the dual metal and hardcore influences, the chorus/hook of the song is quite poppy and melodic, even featuring singing vocals. The vocals are well done and add character to the song, but this is where the album seems to move in a quite different direction. The latter of these two songs takes the album into a direction that features those same singing vocals as the main style of lyrical presentation, and the album seems to have departed completely from the first track it offered us. Following these two songs though is the apocalyptic "The Depravity Waltz," yet again returning to the metal and hardcore brutality of the first song. Giving way to lyrics calling for the end of time and destruction of the entire human race, akin to All Out War, the music is only appropriate for the subject matter, but does nothing to create any kind of consistency for the tone of the album. The musical contradictions continue throughout the remainder of the album, and it leaves me uncertain of what to really call this band. They don't "mix in" the melodic parts with the metal and hardcore. They play metalcore songs, and then melodic hardcore or heavy rock songs. The thing is, I like everything that is done here on the album, but I'm not sure I like it all together. It's almost like there are two different bands playing on the same record, occasionally even in the same song. If you want brutal metal and hardcore, or you want melodic heavy music, you'll enjoy at least half of this album. If you want both, chances are you'll like all the songs, but depending on what you're in the mood for may not want to listen to the whole thing through. Notwithstanding their inability to set a decent tone for the album, the lyrical writing is well above par. Like the music though, it moves from what could be described as love songs, or even bitter lovelorn songs to epic tales of apocalyptic destruction. Here are some excerpts. From "A Threnody For Modern Romance", "This is a call to arms for all those who recognize romance as a dying scene, who will take it to their graves; this is a call to arms for all those who hold this sacrament close. May our hearts burn on." Then from "The Caitiff Choir: Revelations," "Can you hear them? Their weary screams of agony, traveling from the blackest regions of their hereafter. You may have to follow me to understand this mortal blasphemy. We are born of the blackest hearts; we all are heirs to the Morningstar. Do you hear the Caitiff Choir? Faithful to none but themselves." The eloquence in their expression on this album is second to none, and if nothing else, this sets the band apart. They have taken time to make their lyrics worth reading. Even the songs that express what so many others have said, they express it more clearly, with more graphic imagery and in unique phrases heretofore unseen. Make it a point to check out The Caitiff Choir from It Dies Today. It is definitely worth hearing.
With Thrice threatening to 'do a Radiohead' by swapping serrated riffs for downbeat introspection, It Dies Today should delight all those left mourning the loss of those nice mainstream melodies with the rough edges. Debut 'The Caitiff Choir' comes on like a mutant hybrid of Thrice's 'The Artist In The Ambulance' and Killswitch Engage's 'Alive Or Just Breathing?', balancing the sing-along chorus quota ('Marigold') and Judas Priest riff steals ('My Promise') with an experience beyond its creators' years. It may be a genre-bound 'scene' album - and IDT won't reinvent and wheels any time soon - but it's more invigorating than anything this derivative has a right to be.
After label searching for what I have heard was upwards of a year (maybe more), It Dies Today found a suitable home with Trustkill and I have to say I think it will work perfectly for both parties. After releasing Forever Scorned on Life Sentence the band toured relentlessly. Quite a few people went nuts over the EP (most of them s
![It Dies Today “The Caitiff Choir [LIMITED CD/DVD]” Released Mar 21, 2006](/images_dynamic/store/TK0075-72.jpg)
