Undying - This Day All Gods Die (2001)^{Release ID: 4224}

Undying is a band that I've come across a few times in the past several years yet hadn't gotten around in actually checking them out. Why? I have no idea. Let's fix that... Melodic metalcore had its start in the late 90s when bands in the American hardcore listened to Gothenburg melodeath and decided to add elements of that to their sound. Darkest Hour may have their reign, but Undying is a more underrated example, and their D-flat tuned heavy and melodic sound would carry over to Prayer for Cleansing, a band that includes former members Tommy Rogers and Paul Waggoner who would go on to form the more popular and progressive Between the Buried and Me.

Their first release, the EP This Day All Gods Die was recorded in 1998 and released as a demo, though it would get an official CD release in 2001. The idea of blending hardcore with melodeath was new and unheard of when the EP first came out in the underground. Gothenburg fans would certainly be pleased about their favorite metal style spreading into America. The hardcore side gives it that grit you don't often hear in In Flames. Strong rage and sweet melody are just what the doctor ordered.

The chilling synth "Intro" is almost like a continuation of the hidden outro in Children of Bodom's Something Wild, almost as if this is an alternate timeline where that band continued that album's D-flat tuned blackened melodeath sound and mixed it with metalcore. The title track seals that deal, but it doesn't impress me that much. There's not much variation in the drumming compared to the other songs. "Lay This Life Down" is filled with melodic darkness while battling it out with the hardcore rage. That's the kind of rage the more popular melodeath bands wish they had!

"Fire of Life" digs deeper into adding variety. The blend of slow and fast sections scream Prayer for Cleansing, while the former has the same slow dread as My Dying Bride, whom the band would cover one of their songs in their next release. More of those melodies and tremolo are in "When the Heavens Shed Tears". Finally, "For Liberation" is a mighty battle between the 90s metal/hardcore of Vision of Disorder and Burst and the European melodeath that would later reach bands like Neaera and Omnium Gatherum.

This Day All Gods Die is not the best start for Undying, but still good. Their later releases would have a more complex melodic turn that would pave the way for the more popular American melodic metalcore bands. Heavy darkness has been given more melodic light....

Favorites: "Lay This Life Down", "Fire of Life", "For Liberation"