Today is the Day
Sadness will Prevail
Relapse
2002
by Nathan Pearce
If I had to describe Sadness will Prevail in two words, I think Id use genius and art. How often can the term art truly be applied to metal music. Steve Austin has created an absolute modern classic of chaos, sickness, and noise. Sadness will Prevail is much slower and more subtle with its venomous attack on the unsuspecting listener than previous Today is the Day releases, but that subtleness translates to a more profound impact once the entire 2 disc album is absorbed.
Steve Austin and Co. have figured out how to lull the listener into a sickening trance only to pummel the listener with the next dose of pure hate and chaos. Guitars twist and fragment noises and riffs into one huge heap of blasphemous torture upon the ears. Too often albums focus on either extreme noise and originality or awesome riffs that only repeat past influences of the band. Steve Austin doesnt live on Earth; therefore, he doesnt understand our primitive view of the guitar. Riffs are crafted when atoms collide and explode in a nuclear fusion of total madness. Noises are then crafted around those riffs to create controlled chaos. Enter the other musicians in the band: Chris Debari bass, and Marshall Kilpatric drums. Debari and Kilpatric are forced to comprehend Austins sickening sense of song structure, and when everyone joins forces a new level of insanity is reached.
Disc X and Disc Y arent really two different albums, but rather one large piece of art. More than 140 minutes of art. Like great artists before him, Steve Austin knows to create a large piece of work, smaller pieces must be individually combined with careful precision. Each song contains its own sense of place among all the songs within this giant landscape. When these songs are combined and allowed to flow freely, emotions of anger, hate, and madness turn to despair, desolation, and ultimately sadness. Sadness, because the listener realizes the hopelessness of comprehension of life. However, this sadness and hopelessness can then lead to an appreciation for a creation such as Sadness will Prevail. Appreciation for the journey into hell it takes the listener, only to realize that journey doesnt really exist anywhere but in our minds. This mind-trip to hell leads to the album cover. A black and white picture of a lonely human being in a straight jacket with a look of either total despair or total contentment. Sadness will Prevail will leave the listener with that same sense of despair or contentment. Either way, the art has performed its function.
Today is the Days Website:
www.todayistheday.org
Sadness will Prevail
Relapse
2002
by Nathan Pearce
If I had to describe Sadness will Prevail in two words, I think Id use genius and art. How often can the term art truly be applied to metal music. Steve Austin has created an absolute modern classic of chaos, sickness, and noise. Sadness will Prevail is much slower and more subtle with its venomous attack on the unsuspecting listener than previous Today is the Day releases, but that subtleness translates to a more profound impact once the entire 2 disc album is absorbed.
Steve Austin and Co. have figured out how to lull the listener into a sickening trance only to pummel the listener with the next dose of pure hate and chaos. Guitars twist and fragment noises and riffs into one huge heap of blasphemous torture upon the ears. Too often albums focus on either extreme noise and originality or awesome riffs that only repeat past influences of the band. Steve Austin doesnt live on Earth; therefore, he doesnt understand our primitive view of the guitar. Riffs are crafted when atoms collide and explode in a nuclear fusion of total madness. Noises are then crafted around those riffs to create controlled chaos. Enter the other musicians in the band: Chris Debari bass, and Marshall Kilpatric drums. Debari and Kilpatric are forced to comprehend Austins sickening sense of song structure, and when everyone joins forces a new level of insanity is reached.
Disc X and Disc Y arent really two different albums, but rather one large piece of art. More than 140 minutes of art. Like great artists before him, Steve Austin knows to create a large piece of work, smaller pieces must be individually combined with careful precision. Each song contains its own sense of place among all the songs within this giant landscape. When these songs are combined and allowed to flow freely, emotions of anger, hate, and madness turn to despair, desolation, and ultimately sadness. Sadness, because the listener realizes the hopelessness of comprehension of life. However, this sadness and hopelessness can then lead to an appreciation for a creation such as Sadness will Prevail. Appreciation for the journey into hell it takes the listener, only to realize that journey doesnt really exist anywhere but in our minds. This mind-trip to hell leads to the album cover. A black and white picture of a lonely human being in a straight jacket with a look of either total despair or total contentment. Sadness will Prevail will leave the listener with that same sense of despair or contentment. Either way, the art has performed its function.
Today is the Days Website:
www.todayistheday.org
