REVIEW: Dead By April “Let The World Know”
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Metal and love. A genre and an emotion that doesn’t sound like they go together. But Swedish metal act Dead By April has been combining the two since their debut album in 2009. Not one for the usual anger and aggression one would expect from metal, Dead By April has a more relationship focused message. Lyrics detailing relationships, love, heartbreak, and emotional turmoils are the calling card of Dead By April. With the new album “Let The World Know” is the pinnacle of their work and showcases some of the best that DBA has to offer.
Instrumentally, DBA has taken what they used on “Incomparable” and honed it downed to the smallest details. The guitar work is heavier, smoother, and each note/chord/riff is an emotional and hard hitting sound. The drum work is superb, pounding in your ears with each hit. The bass work is solid and keeps it all together while the keyboard sounds are so much more improved from the already amazing sound on “Incomparable”. Dead By April has solidified their own unique and identifiable sound in the genre and it’s a beautiful sound to say the least.
After the sudden departure of Jimmie Strimell in 2013, Christoffer Andersson takes over on screams and while having a much different sound than Jimmie, brings an equal amount of power and intensity in his voice to the songs. Many people think Christoffer isn’t as good as Jimmie, but I believe personally that he is the perfect fit for the band and he absolutely kills it on the new album. Zandro is just as good as he’s been, improving his already stellar work from the last album. There are some vocal edits (heavy auto-tune) in a couple tracks which would normally bother me, but for some reason they didn’t affect me here. They flowed perfectly and sounded amazing. They weren’t overused in the slightest and I personally loved the instances where they were used.
The lyrical content is what you expect from DBA. The love and heartbreak, emotional turmoils, and relationship themes are prevalent (as I pointed out in the intro). I’ve never been a fan of the love songs, but Dead By April has a way about them to make the songs some of my all time favorites. Hopeful for a better day and for love to be found in the future, the lyrics will hit deep and have tremendous meanings behind them.
Dead By April is an interesting take on metal, going towards love and emotion instead of anger and aggression. Luckily for them, it works. With hypnotizing instrumentals, angelic vocals, and deep emotional lyrics, “Let The World Know” is the best Dead By April album to date and is a early but solid candidate for album of the year.
