A HORRIBLE DEATH TO A HORRIBLE MAN – Days Gone By
Release Date: 19th May 2023
Label: VS77 Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Shoegaze, Blackgaze, Post-Metal.
FFO: Nothing, Hundredth, Deafheaven.
Review By: Andy Spoon
6-track shoegaze offering Days Gone By from Danish quartet A HORRIBLE DEATH TO A HORRIBLE MAN is set to be released on May 19th, 2023 on VS77 records. While it might seem strange to think of a 6-track album as an LP, there is no shortage of immense feats of atmospheric length on each track, the shortest being a quaint 05:34 in length. The rest of the tracks on the entire album eclipse seven minutes each. I knew right off the bat that I was in for a serious ride.
While I’m not necessarily a big fan of shoegaze, I knew that this album was going to be something different in my personal experiences of the genre. The first track that I heard was Other a track, which is also the opening track of the album. We’re not talking about a post punk, or post-emo shoegaze project. This is a shoegaze project which seems to be post-black metal, at least in my opinion. Seeing that the band is Danish, it makes some sense that they are at least exposed to a black metal culture, which helps me put two-and-two together when hearing the influences (if any) to Days Gone By.
My ordinary shoegaze experience is limited to a few of the mainstream acts like Nothing, Have a Nice Life, and Hundredth. I was thrilled to expand my input to include A HORRIBLE DEATH TO A HORRIBLE MAN, whose album promises to demonstrate the exact type of atmosphere I’ve been looking for as an extreme metal enthusiast. Ultimately, I think that these guys are one of the bands who are pushing the crossover elements to more and more audiences, something that I think is going to help them out tremendously as their fanbase will likely continue to expand from here.
It’s passé to say that the “wall of sound” is the primary element, or “instrument” of the shoegaze/noise rock artform. As a result, I won’t really get deep into the semantics about why it’s important. It’s fairly evident that these fellows nailed it. Nothing further needs to be said. There’s mountainous reverb to the rhythm guitars, while it seems the drums are featured with a plate-type reverb. Effectively, the harmonies of the guitars are colossal, while the drums don’t get washed-out in the background. This is actually something which I learned to appreciate as the album goes by. It allows the listener to get into the groove more.
The vocals are some of my favorite elements. Vocalist Peter Strange’s low-register crooning is not buried by the noise elements, giving the lyrics room to be heard concisely. His vocal delivery reminds me of a mix of Depeche Mode and David Bowie in many moments. It’s not too high, nor too low. It’s dynamically-unique, something that makes it very easy to potentially recognize him if you were to hear A HORRIBLE DEATH TO A HORRIBLE MAN at a party, perhaps. Overall, the vocals are pensive, almost depressive, especially when juxtaposed with the frequent tremendousness of the background din. I didn’t think I would like it, but it grew on me quite quickly.
Days Gone By is a great album that no doubt ought to be listened to by both blackgaze and regular shoegaze fans. The album has all the elements of both genres that fans love. The technical elements of the album (recording and mixing) are excellent, making the album easy to understand and absorb, giving a big stage to the pensive vocal delivery. Overall, I absolutely enjoyed the experience of listening and letting it melt into my consciousness. I think that the refrain on the title track in which the vocalist repeats “Love is pain. Love is pain.” in repetition is a profound way to sum up the level of chaotic tragedy evident in the overall sound.
(3.5 / 5)
