“I watched you shapeshift in front of me.”
Returning for their seventh studio album, Orange County rock outfit Dayseeker present Creature In The Black Night. The band have seen a meteoric rise to the forefront of today’s heavy music, with their sound evolving from metalcore roots to a synthwave-inspired, more accessible rock sound, particularly on their previous album Dark Sun. With its macabre song titles and eerie motifs, Creature In The Black Night seeks to go in a darker direction while maintaining the melancholy-laced sound that the band have become known for.
The band see themselves striving for a heavier sound on this record, a potential deviation from the path set for themselves previously. Frontman Rory Rodriguez’s iconic vocal style has been the cornerstone of Dayseeker’s sound for its entire lifetime, adapting to the band’s various sounds with versatility. The album’s first single, “Pale Moonlight”, demonstrates his propensity for a captivating hook yet again. Continuing in the synthwave-led direction of Dark Sun but taking a gloomier twist, the track features noticeably heavier and punchier guitars. It still mostly sees Rodriguez singing, with his harsh vocals only making an appearance during the track’s breakdown. As a starting point (the track is also the album’s opener), it bridges the gap between albums fairly well, although while playing it rather safe.
This general pattern of “soft start > big chorus > heavy breakdown” that makes up “Pale Moonlight” is prevalent throughout the entire album, to varying levels of effectiveness. Mid-album cut “Bloodlust” brings in a heaviness that’s been highly anticipated for many fans of Dayseeker’s older music. Employing chunky, low-tuned guitars with longtime producer Dan Braunstein’s signature touches, the heaviness of the track’s main riff complements the flowy verses and hooks from Rodriguez. While again, the track only hits its climax at its breakdown, the payoff feels much more rewarding with a genuinely punchy chugdown that goes on for a significantly longer time. “Cemetery Blues” has a similar level of impact, choosing to go for more of a slow burn approach with a mostly electronic and piano-led start, building towards an eerie, atmosphere-driven breakdown.
Where the album deviates, it follows more in the direction of Dark Sun with either a straightforward rock ballad approach or softer, synthpop-type tracks. The former sees itself as being rather effective on “Crawl Back To My Coffin”, with a melancholic synthwave intro blasting into a dreamy ambience. There’s no denying that Dayseeker is still very good at this, which would make sense, seeing as they’ve spent the last two albums honing this sound. The latter tracks like “Soulburn” and “The Living Dead” are serviceable, giving Rodriguez’s vocals the forefront. They do end up feeling like solo tracks, however, with little to no involvement from the rest of the band. It does feel like an approach that could have been left behind on Dark Sun.
It’s far past the halfway point of the album where I realised that it didn’t have anything new left to offer. Amidst the dazzling synthwave textures and anthemic hooks, there was quite little else, wearing more and more on me as it went by. Rodriguez’s abilities as a vocalist cannot be understated, and his presence on these tracks alone elevates them past their contemporaries; there’s just only so far he can carry the sound of the album.
With its heavier start, there seemed to be a promise of a return to older ground for Dayseeker, with tracks like “Shapeshift” and “Bloodlust”, but it merely scratches the surface. This isn’t to say that heavier automatically means better, but the heavy parts on the album feel so touch-and-go in a way that’s ultimately unfulfilling. It’s also frustrating how most tracks refuse to deviate from the same structure, leading the album to feel more and more predictable. The overall direction of the album feels neither here nor there, especially with their more accessible tracks in the mix. I would have preferred if it had just picked one direction and stuck with it.
It’s undeniable that Dayseeker have landed on a sound that works for them, and many have already found themselves resonating with it. And to its credit, Creature In The Black Night is cohesive; it’s just a lot more of the same. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but I can’t help but feel let down as the album gives a fleeting glimpse of a different direction before reverting to business as usual. The atmosphere on the album is genuinely well crafted, and it could have lent itself to a much more impactful experience if there had been just more of a change-up in the formula. Creature In The Black Night could have been a lot more, but as it is, I guess it’s alright.
6/10
Creature In The Black Night releases on the 24th of October via Spinefarm Records. Pre-order and merch links for the album can be found here.