You can download: the October 2017 Mix#10 right
here or get the new November 2017 Mix#11
here.
I it was Guitalex, formerly of
Nous Étions and
Heresie that showed me AMBER DAYBREAK, and from the moment I heard them I was smitten. So I downloaded the '
Sentinels' EP over a year ago and only realized that the band has another 11 songs from a myriad of other releases. I also came across the realization that the singer Antoine is now in
Chalk Hands, whom I've been jamming this week but never would have made the correlation! Let's get started with the AMBER DAYBREAK discography.
AMBER DAYBREAK began in 2006, but their first release was 2007's '
Serenity's Always Late' two-song EP begins with the title track sounding a lot like
The Bled-light. It's like pretty metalcore, but maybe it's more of the vocals that are giving me that
The Bled and
Beloved feeling. "
Shame" includes some decent clean singing from 1:02-1:20 and a chill second half which brings the
Beloved comparison a step closer. Both tracks surpass the five-minute mark.
In 2008 AMBER DAYBREAK released two, two-song EPs, both of which have a much more familiar and noodley, European screamo thing going on. The song "Boat Trip" comes from the EP of the same title and doesn't even reach 1:30 before dissolving and can also be found on the 2009 LP. "
Un Grand Rien" is 4:33 of
Amanda Woodward and
Via Fondo sounding post-hardcore/screamo, with a killer section from 1:57-3:00 that boasts massive bass breakdowns followed by some awesome spacey twinkling. The finale is a dark,
Potence-esque romp through incredible atmospheric screamo. Holy fuck that song is mean. Also released in 2008 was the '
Empty Shells' EP, that opens with the heaviest screamo song the band recorded, titled "
A Travers L'ombre" which
The Solexine Chapter likely heard and loved. The dreamy bit from 1:52 leads to an epic conclusion that encapsulates how stunning this band was. Second track "Empty Shells" has a very cool latter half with fantastic dynamics and intricate,
Kidcrash-like precision.
In 2009 AMBER DAYBREAK released their (as far as I know) only physical release, a cdLP titled 'Sentinels'. Opening with "
Winter Seems Longer", it is the quintessential song on this LP, firing on all cylinders with chord progressions that are fan-fucking-tastic, with the penultimate taking place at the beginning. "
Burning Seas" is next, opting for an audio clip from, what is that, Halo? Oh no it says zombies. Ah I don't know. What I do know is that at 20 seconds the song gets going and at 47 seconds ties together the drums, guitars and bass beautifully. The
Via Fondo and
Adolina-esque shouted vocals work very well and by 1:25 the song blazes a trail much like many of those Swedish bands that have learned to do the same thing so well. "But Who Cares" has an unreal finale accompanied by some okay singing while "... où les mouvements se trainent" is an excellent, short and poignant track that wastes no time on jammy intros and instead goes full-tilt AMBER DAYBREAK style, complete with a booming bass slowdown that gives the final two-thirds of the song a very epic feel to it. Title track "Sentinels", the previously released "Boat Trip", "Paper Wall" and closer "No One On Arrival" are all very good songs that help prop up this release as an excellent display of passionate, technical screamo.
In 2010 the AMBER DAYBREAK disbanded and left behind five final songs over two digital releases. The single "
Seeds" can be found on the single-track EP '
Seeds' and is very playful, incorporating more
Kidcrash as well as
Daïtro. Four songs were also collected on the '
Bonus' EP, stretching from 2007 to 2010 in terms of their recording dates. All of the tracks are untitled but are distinguishable by year they were done, with the "
Untitled - 2009" being my personal favourite of the lo-fi songs, although the 2007 song is pretty killer. Oh, the opener is actually not untitled, it's "Unfinished song - 2010" and it's one of two playful instrumental jams.
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