Day of Contempt – The Will To Live / 2005 Epitaph / 6 Tracks / http://www.dayofcontempt.com / http://www.epitaph.com / Reviewed 16 August 2005

The hard-edged emo style is killer when it is done right – the opening to Day of Contempt’s “The Will To Live” is the perfect indicator of this. While there is some minor issues in regards to the fuzz that plagues the brutal guitar work on the track, the interplay between the aforementioned guitars and the silky-smooth vocals present on the track is not to be missed. The dichotomy between heavy and smooth vocals is present on “The Will To Live”, and while there is nothing new to experiment with this layout, it still sounds fresh in the context that Day of Contempt place it into.

The two vocalists, Ben and Dan actually have a complementary style, so instead of having two disparate, angelic/Cookie monster vocals one can jump from Ben to Dan and back again without getting disoriented. Even on this six-song EP, there is careful consideration of the cohesion that the interplay of these tracks promotes; the peaks and valleys of “A Million Miles” work hand in hand with those in “The Ghost of Tragedy” to make a seven-minute opus that only really changes during the drum-led breakdown present on the lead-out to “The Ghost of Tragedy”. Finally moving beyond the confident and strong vocals that opened up “The Will To Live”, there is a twinge of uncontrollable emotion that graces the vocals on “Salvation Wearing Thin”. This minor difference in the overall sound of Day of Contempt is enough to keep the disc fresh and listeners firmly interested in the band.

Finally breaking free from any similar sound for the second half of the disc, the slower tempo of ”Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts” allows the band to further move into the realm of emotional purveyance as well as increasing the band’s general sound (for the track incorporates a piano). The metal influence of Day of Contempt comes back to the Samhain-esque opening to “Take All The Blame”, and really gives the band another out for when their next full-length is released. “The Will To Live” is a few minutes over the twenty-minute mark, yet Day of Contempt put forth a number of different sounds and styles in which to inculcate their listeners. There is no point on this disc where the diversity of the band causes them to suffer; rather, I would argue that the band’s major problem comes in the earliest stages of the disc where the aforementioned cohesion goes a little too far, making it hard to distinguish much of a difference between the tracks.

Top Track: Salvation Wearing Thin

Rating: 6.6/10