Virginia/DC-based Sci-Fi Proggers Day of Departure will be releasing their eponymous debut album on March 25th. While Day of Departure is made up of the members of progressive metal veterans Brave, Day of Departure is not just an off-shoot of the band. Instead, day of Departure is its very own machine and behind the controls is guitarist/songwriter Matt Kozart.
Day of Departure isn’t just another progressive band showcasing their abilities to shred and perform long, drawn-out, self-indulgent compositions. Day of Departure’s music has so much depth and dynamic range. The opening track “..and We Prepare for Our End” is an eight-minute epic that serves as a warning to us all that the world as we know it is closer to its demise than it has ever been. It is a heavy thing to take, but it’s one of those “Well, SOMEBODY had to say it” moments.
Going into “The Edge of Annihilation,” this is where I began to see the narrative taking form. Kicking off with a melancholy, melodic groove, I kept waiting for this insane “kick in” where it would just blow out, but it never really came, which is fantastic. Instead, the unpredictability of the song had me anticipating what lay ahead.
The highlight of the album for me is “Ex Machina.” The vibe of this song is atmospheric, intense, and tense all simultaneously. The ethereal and beautifully haunting vocals of Michelle Schrotz embody a sort of mechanical/AI kind of quality but only because she found a way to tailor her voice to the song’s concept. The character of Schrotz’s voice is what took this song to a whole other level creating a visual in my head that went beyond the Sci-Fi realms of my mind.
It’s very seldom that I am speechless and Day of Departure absolutely took my breath away. The music of Day of Departure can only be described as tragically beautiful. It encapsulates a vast plane of musical influences from Italian metal icons Lacuna Coil to the lush, dark melody of Norwegian black metal legends Darkthrone.
Day of Departure delivers an apocalyptic message to the world that the world we take for granted may be closer to its end than we know and that we humans may be living on borrowed time. Day of Departure presents humanity with a powerful testimony to our mortality as human beings. It is a message that not everyone can deliver or even swallow, but Day of Departure is sharing a message with us all that is more than worthy of a listen.
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