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TODAY IS THE DAY - Sadness Will Prevail

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These are probably the darkest, most miserable, schizophrenic, suicidal sounds you’re most likely to find. Consisting of two generous seventy-two minute CDs, Sadness will Prevail begins with the “X” side. Starting with the obliterating doom of “Maggots and Riots,” this is followed with the sound of a modem connecting to the internet before kicking in with the crushing groove of “Criminal.” From there, things just get worse as Steve Austin does everything from whispers to screams to snarls and growls, through the rest of the two albums, purging personal demons left and right. The new rhythm section of Chris Debar and Marshall Kilpatric does an excellent job of keeping up with Austin’s variety of mood swings and time changes throughout the album. While there’s not many sing-along choruses (save for the “Fuck the Law” chorus found on “Crooked”), songs such as “Unearthed,” “The Descent,” and “Mistake” still pack enough tortured vocals and ominous riffing to keep the die-hard TODAY IS THE DAY fans happy. Although the album is filled with plenty of feedback, blast beats, screaming, and dissonance, which at times makes the listening experience almost unlistenable, there’s also a fair amount of dark piano and string passages throughout the album’s two discs. But even these breaks from the aggression offer little comfort, providing only cold uneasy feelings to the proceedings. The second disc “Y” is more of an instrumental record, preferring to let the music and sounds do the talking, although vocals are still used sporadically throughout the disc. “Myriad” begins the album with a chaotic blend of samples all playing at the same time before the band kicks in, grinding and pounding away at full force through the album’s next three tracks until the melodic strings, chimes, and piano of “Your Life is Over” gives the listener a brief intermission until dissipating into noise. This then introduces the driving “Control the Media.” “Never Answer the Phone” is the album’s centerpiece, beginning with feedback and samples from the film, Memento. The song delivers an epic twenty-three minutes of heavy doom riffs and hard-pounding drumming as well as an assortment of sounds, bizarre effects, noise, as well as a surprise-ending sample. The “Sadness Will Prevail Theme” (which features members of AMBER ASYLUM collaborating with the band) closes out the album on a somber note, musically presenting the overall theme of the album. With Sadness will Prevail, Austin and co. have succeeded in making nightmares come true so to speak, creating no less than two of the most original albeit, miserable albums in recent memory. (Relapse)