Artist: Haste the Day
Album: When Everything Falls
Label: Solid State
Tracks: 12

Length: 35:52

Haste the Day turned my ears towards themselves quickly when I first heard them at a festival shortly before their debut, “Burning Bridges”, hit stores. They were a great live band but I was a bit disappointed when I got the album. “Burning Bridges” was as aggressive as they come and produced well but it had a hard time keeping your attention with its straightforward onslaught.

Much to my pleasure, “When Everything Falls” throws some curveballs and makes for a much more interesting listen. The album explodes with the same brutality and energy that made the bands live show so appealing to me but there is a lot more melody to be had here. The melodic parts have a very Soilwork feel to them and I dig it. The title track is probably the best example, it’s mean as they come and catchy too! The band also changes it up a bit while grinding it down and getting their metal on with songs like “For a Lifetime” and “Bleed Alone.” The acoustic “InstruMETAL” is a nice breather from the onslaught and then the band takes you out with renewed vigor on “All I Have” and a spectacular cover of one of my favorite Goo Goo Dolls songs, “Long Way Down.”

This album lives up to every expectation I dared have for it. That’s rare. Haste the Day are one of the premier metal bands of 2005 and I’d loved to see what they could do with a mainstream label behind them. Fans of Killswitch Engage, Soilwork, As I Lay Dying, and The Haunted will definitely want to check this out.