UNDERSTANDING CONSEQUENCES

First of all, Day Without Dawn is what you would call the continuation of The Postman Syndrome to a certain point, similar to East of the Wall's case and as of now are called Biclops. In Understanding Consequences, Day Without Dawn moves away from what characterized its predecessor. They have created a more distinguishable sound making it more their own. No longer will you have the similar sound to bands such as Tool, A Perfect Circle and System of Down but instead you get a unique and refreshing new sound that sounds similar to The Postman Syndrome instead of all those bands.

Understanding Consequences does a great combination of progressive rock/metal, post rock/metal and very few others such as jazz, that create a nice smooth and clear sound in a very distinctive way. First of all, the vocals in Understanding Consequence play a very important role. The constant change between the different vocalists and the change between styles create smooth variations in the music. The music is intensive, melodic, heavy and well composed, with barely any flaws.

The first song of the album The Wake kicks off with a drum pattern and eventually is followed by the rest of the instruments. It has a very "post rockfish" feel to it with jazzy and metal dynamics. It's rhythm it's rather moving and explosive as similar to many of the songs of the album. Possibly one of the best song's of the album. The vocals are extremely colorful and striking and create an extremely emotive ambience along with the guitar. Another standout song would have to be Seducing the Dead. This song has that classic prog feel to it, with vocals that bring to mind The Beatles, Yes and other classic prog bands. Its second part tends to be a lot darker with a sort of evil chorus in the background. On the other hand The Deeper Wells has a dark intro and then switches to a very cheery vocal line that sounds similar to Toby Driver from Maudlin of the Well. The last song: The Undertide is the most elaborated song of the album and works well as the album closer.

In overall Understanding Consequences is filled with great moments, great songs and everything you would expect from a great experimental/prog metal band. Highly recommended!

One of the best surprises of 2008.

This is the best album from 2008 I heard so far!

Some albums find us (instead of more common case when we're searching for a particular album). I'd seen DWD added to PA, but didn't care to check them. Then a friend of mine had sent me a LastFM recommendation. I've checked their video there and it left me impressed. I began to search for this album, being more than intrigued with its background story. DWD were a post-THE POSTMAN SYNDROME/pre-BICLOPS band, and 'Understanding Consequences' was their debut but sadly post- humous full-length release. And when I finally got I wasn't too excited - lame cover artwork, short songs (judging from tracklist timing) and probably nothing special in it. I'm absolutely happy to say that I was wrong!

DAY WITHOUT DAWN can be described as a mixture of OCEANSIZE (arpeggi guitars and complex signatures), DREDG (melodic lines and tasteful rhythm-section), COHEED AND CAMBRIA (vocals and the whole alternative flavour) and to some point THE MARS VOLTA, PORCUPINE TREE and TOOL. But this description adds absolutely nothing to what this band really is. Thank God today we have LastFM and MySpace (where they have some free tracks) and anyone can check their stuff to get assured in their unique manner and approach. Each song varies in mood and character; it's hard to regard them as 'catchy', but the more you listen the better you like them! My favourities are 'The Undertide', 'The Wake', 'The Second-to-Last Page' and 'Your Diminutive Hand', but honestly, it's terribly hard to point out a single best track here. I've never liked winds, but unexpected trumpet solos here and there make this album even more eclectic and tasty! Yes, this is the word to describe it - it's TASTY.

This is simply one of the best Modern Prog album I've ever listened to! Anyone who's into Modern Prog MUST HAVE this record in his/her collection. Extremely recommended!