DAYLIGHT DIES - No Reply
September 26, 2002, 21 years ago
(Relapse)
The newest addition to the Relapse roster are practitioners of atmospheric death doom, a la the gruff, early works of Paradise Lost (Gothic), complete with tuneful, albeit heavy, moments. Dark, depressive, but not without hope (witness brief upbeat guitar jangle in 'I Wait'), the album includes tracks like 'Unending Waves', which walks the tightrope between dreary and up-tempo. The vocals tend to be of the belched, ravaged vocals chord variety, although many tracks contain long stretches without singing. The minimalistic 'In The Silence' starts with talking and sporadic drum beats, beneath nearly acoustic strumming, while 'Back In The World' is a lone piano instrumental lament. Some may say No Reply comes a decade too late, but the masters of this particular style abandoned it too quickly and there have been precious few since, who could fill the void.
