Your Days Are Numbered – Dana Walker Rides Again / 2005 Self / 6 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/yourdaysarenumbered / Reviewed 06 August 2005
I expected another batch of the same bland and generic technical-hardcore that has dominated the central Ohio scene when I first looked at Your Days Are Numbered’s disc. In fact, the front cover even is done in the same style as another local act, The Heartland. Anyways, “Dana Walker Rides Again” comes out surprisingly close to an Against Me! type of sound with “Crazed Romance”. The technical guitar riffs previously mentioned do make an appearance during “Ruled By Chaos”, but the inclusion of some more simple guitar lines are perhaps the band’s saving grace during the track. A note to new “metalcore” acts: be like Your Days Are Numbered and come up with absolutely insanely-paced technical riffs, but also bring in a more pedestrian type of guitar riff for the average fan to sink their teeth into.
“Ruled By Chaos” ends with a breakneck-speed guitar riff that will force everyone into the pit, regardless of their concert etiquette. The stormy sound given the track by the double-bass drumming really adds a certain atmosphere to the track that is just not found during the rest of the track. “Vicious Cycle”, before breaking into the very circular meat of the track really seems to draw heavily from some of the more melodic black and progressive metal (Blind Guardian, to be specific). The breakdown present in the track seems a little out of place: in it, it includes a guitar riff that would make more sense in a Boys Night Out than a Converge song.
The confidence that the rest of the music on “Dana Walker Rides Again” is lost during this brief interlude. This lack of confidence has the negative effect of messing both with the continuity and the momentum that the disc had collected up to that point. “Dana Walker Rides Again” may only break the twenty-minute mark, but it is a tremendous EP that provides listeners a great viewpoint into the mind of a band that is mature beyond their years. “Kitchen Sink” is “Dana Walker Rides Again’s” last track, and even the fact that the track almost breaks six minutes should not be enough to scare any potential listener away. It is actually Your Days Are Numbered’s strongest track, something that is made possible by the band’s fickle feelings about arrangements. Keep listening to Your Days Are Numbered and if there is any justice in the world, they should become more of a household name in the near future.
Top Track: Kitchen Sink
Rating: 7.3/10