Metalcore begets metalcore. Formed out of the metalcore band Die to Yourself is The Dwelling. As oversaturated as the metalcore genre is, I do remember liking a Die to Yourself song, so I had some high hopes for The Dwelling. Unfortunately, the hard edge and passion that came through in the Die to Yourself recordings has been stripped away leaving a more melodic and sanitized sound. In the end Antidote is certainly safer, definitely has more mainstream appeal, but unfortunately is much more generic.
The roots of The Dwelling trace all the way back to July of 2005 when Die to Yourself started in Oklahoma City. As many good bands do, they hit the road early and often and playing Christian festivals and sharing the stage for bands like A Day to Remember, Whitechapel, and War of Ages. Die to Yourself went on to release a couple ep’s and one full-length before reinventing themselves as The Dwelling in early 2012. In terms of sound, even glancing at the two band’s Facebook pages, can provide a clue as to the shift. Die to Yourself labels their genre as a Christian/metal/metalcore while The Dwelling chose Christian melodic metalcore. Subtle distinction there leaving out the “metal” part but it is certainly accurate and an important distinction. Notice both genres lead with Christian as a descriptor and lyrically that comes through loud and clear, with many passages paraphrased or coming straight from the Bible. As an example, “We Can Rise Above” incorporates a retelling of the temptation of Christ to send the message that “we can rise above” temptation and sin.
Honestly, the song “Promises” (see clip below) is a perfect example of what is on Antidote. If you like this song, you will find much to like on the album. I was immediately lost by the clean singing in the intro. There seems to be a disparity in the intensity on this album. The music seems overproduced and lacking an edge to go along with the strained screaming vocals. At the same time those strained screaming vocals seem to somehow lack emotion to back up or justify them. I imagine much of this would be taken care of in a live setting as that would remove the overproduction. From a musicianship standpoint, everything is well done and again perhaps the production is to blame as nothing is really noteworthy or stands out.
One cautionary note is for the last three songs “Ascend”, “The Gospel”, and “Consumed” which seem a bit out of place on the album and could easily be praise and worship or Christian contemporary songs, which may explain why Amazon.com has them tagged as a Christian contemporary and Christian praise and worship artist.
In the end, this is mostly a “melodic metalcore” album that you’ve heard before but seems to have been produced in such a way to make it a bit more friendly and less metal.
Rating: 4/10
Tracklist:
1. Let There Be Light (feat. Colby Moore)
2. Miracles
3. Promises
4. Beyond The Jordan
5. We Can Rise Above (feat. Andy Atkins)
6. Your Will Be Done
7. It Is Finished
8. Washed
9. Resurrection (feat. Ryan Leitru)
10. Ascend
11. The Gospel
12. Consumed
Band Members
Daryl Yard – Vocals
Michael Watson – Guitar
Braden James – Guitar
Bobby Ross – Bass
Ben Yard – Drums
Record Label: Independent, April 2013
Weblinks: Facebook
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
USA: Metal Helm
Video below for “Promises”