Daylight Dies

When North Carolina's Daylight Dies started as a project of Barre Gambling and Jesse Haff in 1996, little did they know the vehicle they created together would blossom into one of metal's most promising upstarts.

Due to geographical constraints, Barre and Haff's Daylight Dies moved slowly to produce the band's first demo, "The Long Forgotten Demo," a rough-and-ready compilation of raw ideas. Recorded almost three years after the formation of the band with the help of session musicians, the demo was, however, an early indicator of Daylight Dies great potential. It wasn't until a year later that the two core members would add a permanent vocalist in the form of Guthrie Iddings. Finally, Daylight Dies was on a serious track to becoming a full-fledged band. With a vocalist in place, the trio then proceeded to record a second demo, "Idle," which further illustrated the band's musical and compositional growth. "Idle" created such an impact locally that Greensboro-based Tribunal Records picked up the demo and repackaged it. The demo was lauded for its attention to detail, melody and atmosphere. For many, it filled the gap that no other stateside act thus far could achieve.

"Idle" was the first group of material where we really felt like we were establishing the sound, which we sought," says Haff of "Idle" and how the band started coming into its own.

Certainly, "Idle" was an impressive start. Yet, Daylight Dies wasn't complete. As a trio, the band found it difficult to perform the material live; the inability to tour wasn't in Daylight Dies immediate plans. A year after the recording and release of "Idle," Egan O'Rourke was enlisted as Daylight Dies full-time bassist. O'Rourke's bottom end added depth to the sound, something which was missing on early recordings. As a quartet, the band quickly starting writing together and the first work to come out of Daylight Dies was a label-only two-song demo. The demo was shipped to various labels who had expressed interest early on. The strength of the music alone was enough to land Daylight Dies an offer from Relapse Records. In late 2001, Daylight Dies signed to the label, where the band shares a common thread with Morgion, Amorphis and licensed artists Rapture and Shape Of Despair.

"We'll be one of the first bands to offer music rooted in dark emotional content rather than aggression," Haff says. "We'll also be one of the few to be heavily melodic yet saturated in dark atmosphere."

With a permanent home on Relapse, the quartet started writing their debut full-length. Titled, "No Reply," the album will contain eight dark and desperate songs that will be far more encompassing than "Idle." Daylight Dies new material is more varied and textured, two traits that signal development.

"The material on "No Reply" continues progressing in this vein but with more focus and definition," Haff explains of how "No Reply" and "Idle" differ. "We feel the new songs are the most emotionally potent material we have created as of yet. On "No Reply" we've captured a somewhat doomier sound while improving our dark catchy qualities."

Haff couldn't be more correct. "No Reply" is such an emotionally charged album that its massive melodies, dirges and expressive soul should hit you like you've never been hit before. You'll feel "No Reply" everywhere; its physical and emotional weight far greater than you ever anticipated from such a fledgling band. When the sun dips below the horizon, a new world will awaken. Welcome to Daylight Dies.