Daze of June – Tainted Blood
Release Date: 19th February 2021
Label: Prime Collective
Genre: Metalcore
FFO: Siamese, Tetrarch, Like Moths to Flames, Dead like Juliet, Bullet for my Valentine, Annisokay, Bury Tomorrow.
Review By: Ryan Shearer
Daze of June, hailing from Copenhagen, are back with Tainted Blood. Their sophomore album following 2018’s Heart of Silver has been touched by the golden hands of Henrik Udd, known for his production work with Architects & Bring Me The Horizon.
New Beginnings & Four Knives open the album with everything put out on the table. You’ll hear aggressive riffs, blends of catchy vocal hooks during the choruses and electronic layering embellishing an already thick mix. There isn’t anything ground-breaking, but it’s got a punch – guitarist Sylvester Jensen and bassist Simon Gessø Hansen create a rich and heavy tone that I imagine will go down well in a live environment.
Courtney LaPlante, vocalist for Spiritbox, makes a guest feature on Hypnos. I’d love to say it’s a highlight of the album, (as their song ‘Holy Roller’ was the absolute pinnacle of 2020) but it’s not her most memorable performance. Her range with Spiritbox and Iwrestledabearonce is much more impressive than found on Hypnos although her unique, haunting singing and raw screams do benefit the track. Her sign off, “You are not prepared, but there’s a storm comin’” is as smooth as silk.
The production is absolutely the strongest aspect. The electronic elements really thicken the texture on Nyx, and the guitars are mixed effectively to give that huge, anthemic tone. The breakdown at the end of New Beginnings feels crushing and has a real weight to it as does the intro of Son & Refuse the light. The formulaic approach to each song starts to become very obvious around half way in, and carries on until the final track Birth of Memories. It’s a melodic and focused, emotionally heavy finale. It’s a slower and has the first tonal change on the album since Son, which was equally as stripped back but much less poignant. It’s just a shame it took 8 songs for Tainted Blood to really find its feet.
There isn’t much more to say about Daze of June’s second album. There’s a lot of boundary-pushing metalcore bands sprinting out the cage at the moment, and Daze of June just isn’t one of them. Tainted Blood is an album that blends into the background like camouflage; it’s more of what you’ve already heard before just slightly repackaged and sold under a different brand. It’s essentially an Aldi off-brand Bury Tomorrow & Bullet for my Valentine fusion with a heavier tone. Not to shit on Aldi too much – I mean look how they managed to market a fucking toy carrot – there will be people who are perfectly satisfied with the cheaper, less original but passable version. I mean, Aldi do a banging Tomato & Chorizo soup. I’ve gone way off track haven’t I? My point is, they’ll do. Daze of June likely won’t become a figurehead of the genre, but if you’re looking for some new metalcore to fill a spare 42 minutes, it’s an option.
(3 / 5)
