ANY GIVEN DAY from the heart of the German Ruhr Area release their second album ‘Everlasting’ on August 26 and even aside from the title they make unmistakably clear that the band is ready to take the next step in its career with complete power and loudness. But more about that later.
In 2014 ANY GIVEN DAY successfully transformed with their debut ‘My Longest Way Home’ from being an internet hype (the cover of the Rihanna song ‘Diamonds’ has been watched millions of times) into a surprising Top 30 German chart entry and main stage (festival) act (i.a. With Full Force, Rock Im Revier, Summer Breeze).
On the song ‘Arise’ you can hear the voice of no one less than TRIVIUM’s Matthew Heafy. Right in time when they were part of the impressing line-up of the IMPERICON festivals and the PROGRESSION tour, that rolled through Europe this spring, ANY GIVEN DAY released the forerunner ‘Endurance’ and for the festival summer as well as for the oncoming release tour they have one or the other ace up their sleeves. This all sounds promising, let’s see if the actual album lives up to the expectations:
First track ‘My Doom’ begins with an intro that is building up the tension. Slowly building up to what I only can describe as bombastic. The song has some interesting tempo-changes.
It is clear that Any Given Day isn’t your average metalcore band, there are just too many different elements from other metal-styles present. Sure, there are the grunting vocals interspersed with clean vocals and the occasional breakdown. But it all comes to use in a way that is refreshing. It sometimes reminds me a bit of Caliban who are also from Germany.
The second song ‘Endurance’ is just that; you don’t need endurance to enjoy this song but you need to have endurance to write such a beautiful song.
Speaking about the vocals: The grunts are deep growls and the clean vocals are manly. What I mean to say with that is that they don’t sound like the thirteen in a dozen boyband vocals. They are a class apart. Just listen to the song ‘Mask Of Lies’, which also has some epic drumwork, and you know what I mean with ‘a class apart’. As said; Raphael smashes his drumkit to smithereens throughout the whole album. Real solid musicianship. This counts for all the bandmembers by the way. Never a dull moment. ’Sinner’s Kingdom’ is also an epic song where we find all the aforementioned elements.
The clean choruses of the songs are all in their place and catchy in their own way. They really serve a purpose and are not just there because it is what people expect from a metal(core) band nowadays.
It is difficult to put a label on Any Given Day, I feel that they go their own way. Yes there are ‘Core’ influences but to call it metalcore…. Let’s just keep it to metal. And that is their strength if you ask me; I think that this album is suitable for a wide variety of metalheads, not just the core-dudes.
Another band that is a bit comparable with Any Given Day is Killswitch Engage. If you like Killswitch Engage I would be highly surprised if you don’t like this record.
‘Farewell’ is a song that I also have to mention. This song contains only clean vocals and the sound of the bassguitar at the middle of the song… with a pair of decent headphones, just wow! Let’s call this song a heavy ballad, beautiful.
As said before: the eleventh song ‘Arise’ features Matthew Heafy of Trivium. What to say about this song that I haven’t said before? I don’t know, just a good solid song that get’s you moving.
Last epic song ‘The Bitter Man’ is a worthy closure of an album that indeed lives up to the expectations. Germany produces a lot of good heavy bands but little reach the quality of Any Given Day.
Conclusion: “I can listen any given day to Any Given Day.”
Rating: 8,5/10
Written by: René Woning
Track List:
1. My Doom
2. Endurance
3. Levels
4. Coward King
5. Mask Of Lies
6. Sinner’s Kingdom
7. Hold Back The Time
8. Masquerade
9. Ignite The Light
10. Farewell
11. Arise (feat. Matthew K.Heafy)
12. The Bitter Man
Band members:
Dennis Diehl (Vocals)
Andy Posdziech (Guitar)
Dennis Ter Schmitten (Guitar)
Michael Golinski (Bass)
Raphael Altmann (Drums)
Discography:
“My Longest Way Home” (2014)
“My Longest Way Home (Documentary)” (2016)
“Everlasting” (2016)
Record label: Redfield Records, August 2016
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Video for ‘Levels’
Video for ‘Arise (feat. Matthew K.Heafy)’