Susan Frances
10/22/08, 12:21 PM
Last Day Standing - A Chorus to Shadows
Record Label: Destiny Worldwide Records
Release Date: July 10, 2007
Last Day Standing have managed to translate hardcore tunage into simmering acoustic rock melodies. The duo of lead singer/guitarist Marcus Chavez and lead guitarist Jimmy Pearl, who form Last Day Standing, have gathered their collection of acoustic songs and put them on their new album A Chorus to Shadows. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Brandon Metcalf, A Chorus to Shadows symbolizes a shift towards making songs with less production and more attention placed on the vocals and the intricacies of the guitar work. With a sparse set up of vocals, guitars and snare drum, Last Day Standing have accomplished making each track on their album sound individual. Whether it is in the way that the vocals squeeze the words with a deep longingly, or in the way that the band forms spires with their guitar chords projecting highlights and lowlights with their riffs, each song has its own specially made layout that sets it apart from the material around it.
The song “Die Alone” has a folksy rock jangle with a comfy country stride, which contrasts greatly from tracks like “The Freudian Theory” and “The Ash of Love” which quicken their tempo and have hardcore edges making them sound like an acoustic version of Senses Fail. The intertwining lines of the acoustic guitar form complex schemes that take the listener through an intricate maze. The gentleness of “Beauty Overwhelming” and “Maybe” has an undercurrent of heat that enhances the intensity of the vocals. The pleading in “Maybe” resonates down to the bone with lines like, “I don’t want to be along… Love is just a game.” The rock balladry of “Fallen Angel” has slow burning fuses with sharp hooks that cut into the lacy hoops, whereas the slopes of “Am I Real” dig in deep and push up to the surface with an undying will.
The album has this recurring theme of possessing an unrelenting will that refuses to be beaten down even after its been burned to soot. Sprigs of guitar chords pop up pushing the melodies upward as the vocals lumber through heavy feelings using upward strokes. It’s a highly emotional album with minimal production work. The songs allow you to wallow in your tears and lick your wounds, and then find your feet to rise from the sorrow.
Senses Fail, The Juliana Theory, Landon Pigg, Foo Fighters
www.myspace.com/lastdaystanding (http://www.myspace.com/lastdaystanding)
Record Label: Destiny Worldwide Records
Release Date: July 10, 2007
Last Day Standing have managed to translate hardcore tunage into simmering acoustic rock melodies. The duo of lead singer/guitarist Marcus Chavez and lead guitarist Jimmy Pearl, who form Last Day Standing, have gathered their collection of acoustic songs and put them on their new album A Chorus to Shadows. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Brandon Metcalf, A Chorus to Shadows symbolizes a shift towards making songs with less production and more attention placed on the vocals and the intricacies of the guitar work. With a sparse set up of vocals, guitars and snare drum, Last Day Standing have accomplished making each track on their album sound individual. Whether it is in the way that the vocals squeeze the words with a deep longingly, or in the way that the band forms spires with their guitar chords projecting highlights and lowlights with their riffs, each song has its own specially made layout that sets it apart from the material around it.
The song “Die Alone” has a folksy rock jangle with a comfy country stride, which contrasts greatly from tracks like “The Freudian Theory” and “The Ash of Love” which quicken their tempo and have hardcore edges making them sound like an acoustic version of Senses Fail. The intertwining lines of the acoustic guitar form complex schemes that take the listener through an intricate maze. The gentleness of “Beauty Overwhelming” and “Maybe” has an undercurrent of heat that enhances the intensity of the vocals. The pleading in “Maybe” resonates down to the bone with lines like, “I don’t want to be along… Love is just a game.” The rock balladry of “Fallen Angel” has slow burning fuses with sharp hooks that cut into the lacy hoops, whereas the slopes of “Am I Real” dig in deep and push up to the surface with an undying will.
The album has this recurring theme of possessing an unrelenting will that refuses to be beaten down even after its been burned to soot. Sprigs of guitar chords pop up pushing the melodies upward as the vocals lumber through heavy feelings using upward strokes. It’s a highly emotional album with minimal production work. The songs allow you to wallow in your tears and lick your wounds, and then find your feet to rise from the sorrow.
Senses Fail, The Juliana Theory, Landon Pigg, Foo Fighters
www.myspace.com/lastdaystanding (http://www.myspace.com/lastdaystanding)