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Dead By April

Let The World Know

Written by: PP on 04/03/2014 23:44:59

Okay, so the trend hugging continues on third album "Let The World Know" for Dead By April, the 'pop metal' sensation from Sweden who have packed about as much metal into their package as a plastic sword. Granted, it's not quite as horrific as their sophomore album "Incomparable", which I recommended to 'fans of a neon coloured Westlife with emo haircuts', but with the addition of even more crazed electronic effects than before to masquerade as actual songwriting, the band are very quickly starting to look like an expired product in my eyes.

Throughout "Let The World Know", it seems like the band are taking two steps back for every step forward. On one hand, it's a heavier album than "Incomparable" was, with "Empathy" referencing modern melodeath in the vein of Sonic Syndicate, at least when discounting for the techno rhythms that zigzag the soundscape like lasers at some sick trance club in Eastern Europe. But to counter any positive advancement on this end, you have stupid dubstep drop-the-bass bits and robotuned clean vocals supplementing the already annoying and totally whiny cleans that bold and underline the emo element omnipresent on the record. Add to that soundscapes that grow old even as you're listening to them for the first time, and others that, despite the increased usage of distortion in their guitars, are essentially pop tracks at heart but without the charming youth atmosphere of their debut album, and well, you have a record that's all-around pretty atrocious in its nature. The overuse of synths, compressed breakdowns, and generic screams don't help either.

In the end Dead By April have released another trendy, neon coloured album that has way too much pop to fool anyone but teenagers. If the cleans had even the slightest bit of charisma, and the electronics would be pushed a little bit more to the background, this record would have a better chance. As it stands right now, it's too transparently superfluous and devoid of artistic integrity and/or musical depth for any serious music enthusiast.

Download: Empathy
For the fans of: Falling In Reverse, Tasters, That's Outrageous!
Listen: Facebook

Release date 12.02.2014
Universal