Dayseeker - ‘Dark Sun’ - album review
Dayseeker - Dark Sun (Noizze)
Standing out in the modern metal scene of 2022 is an extremely hard feat to manage, yet over the years Southern California’s Dayseeker have managed to do so effortlessly and they’re aiming to keep up with this track record with latest release Dark Sun. As the follow-up to 2019’s Sleeptalk, expectations are understandably high for Dayseeker’s fifth studio album, as the former has amassed over 125 million streams online, as well as a barrage of sold out shows in support of its release, but the band are determined to show us that there is nothing to be worried about.
Having released the first three songs from Dark Sun as singles over the last few months, it’s hard to be surprised by the first quarter of the album. It eases us into the album nicely, throwing no harsh surprises our way and giving us a sense of familiarity. Opening the album is ‘Dreamstate’. A track that lets the electronic elements of Dayseeker’s music shine it brings the pop music energy that they have become so known for over the last few years, with Rory Rodriguez’s soaring vocals taking center stage and delivering the boyband-esque lines that their audience has come to love. These first few tracks still manage to keep the heavier elements that their fans fell in love with in the first place. They deliver heavy breakdowns with a crushing blow and are still able to revert to the melodic vocals with seemingly no effort – an extremely impressive feat to master in itself.
Throughout ‘Dark Sun’ Dayseeker have managed to build detailed impressive soundscapes with synths and ambient guitars that help us to visualize the imagery their lyrics draw in our minds. Listen to ‘Midnight Eternal’ – this track in particular utilizes these synths and almost acts as a warmup for the following title track. It wouldn’t feel out of place on an album by The Weeknd with its pulsating synths and angelic vocals that radiate emotion. Like most other songs on this album, it begins quite unassuming until it swells into a huge closing chorus that is full of pain and passion from Rodriguez. He is an extremely impressive vocalist and wears all his emotions on his sleeve when performing, letting the fervor take center stage. It’s a collection of songs that explores his personal life over the last few years, written about his father’s passing and the darkness that inevitably followed so it’s only natural that these raw emotions break through in his performance.
With ‘Dark Sun’ Dayseeker are redefining what it means to be a rock band in the 21st century. They are so clearly unconfined by genre or boundaries, choosing instead to march to the beat of their own drum and write music on their own terms. Their new sound possesses an unbelievably heartbreaking sound filled with mesmerizing hooks that are punctuated with moments of experimental synth pop and rushes of distorted guitar that manage to bring it all together. The entire album feels like catharsis and has allowed Dayseeker to evolve once more into an overall more mature sound that they so desperately needed.
Rating: 9/10
