Day Six - Eternal Dignity


Year of Release: 2005
Label: Progman Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 54:35:00

There must be something in the water in The Netherlands. For a country roughly the same size as my native state of Ohio, they probably have the best progressive music per square mile on the planet. It's amazing to see and hear a band this young, all aged 24 and below, not only playing progressive rock, but to also be able to incorporate some of the elements of the masters in the genre. Eternal Dignity is the first full-length album available worldwide and shows a vast amount of promise and talent for these young, Dutch musicians. Their listed influences and favorite bands range from The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Opeth, from Pantera to Beckfield and from Evergrey to Symphony X. All of these influences make an appearance on this album, but subtly. They have successfully merged heavy guitar riffs with jazz licks and Hammond-like organs to create an album that pays homage to their heroes and showcases their own musical vision.

The first thing anyone will notice when playing this album is the production. It's rather thin and dull with little dynamics. Many self-produced records suffer from this, as most are done on a very low budget and are rushed. The problem here is not that it was thrown together, but the fact they needed a professional ear to help round out the music. The music is actually what balances out the production values. They do not use a particular formula when writing songs as they all are pretty unique in their approach. The three-part opener, "Legend Of The Hollow" is all the evidence one needs to see the diverse nature of the band members. It begins with a fairly straight ahead prog rock riff and slightly raspy mid-range vocals and goes through several time and key signature changes before ending with some cool keyboard/guitar interplay that fades out. "Dark Tower" opens with a brooding Pink Floyd styled keyboard and vocal delivery and goes right into a slap-bass funky groove and right back to the mellow within a few measures.

That mildly chaotic style is definitely a selling point of the band and is their greatest feature. No matter how big of a prog-head you may be, you just have no idea where the band is going with the songs upon first listen. Vocalist and guitarist Robbie Van Stiphout is a large part of that unpredictability with his ability to shift style immediately and go in an opposite direction. In fact, they have eclipsed fellow countrymen and prog bands Sun Caged and Knight Area with their ability to infuse their musical roots with their musical vision and truly create some original and inspiring songs, though they fall somewhere in between style wise.

Day Six certainly has some brilliant days ahead of them in the world of progressive rock/metal as evidenced by this release. Versatility and diversity are traits that too often go unnoticed in the music industry and are both present here with Eternal Dignity. It's great that Progman Records was able to release this to the world outside of The Netherlands. I can't imagine how good this would have sounded with a larger production, but what we do have is a high-quality progressive album that blends genres and styles better than any in recent memory.


Tracklisting:
Legend Of The Hollow / The Law Of The Web / Dark Tower / No One Lives Forever / Water & Stones / Day VI / The Crypt

Musicians:
Robbie van Stiphout - vocals, guitars
Dolf Van Heugten - synthesizers
Nick Verstappen - bass
Daan Liebregts - drums

Discography:
Peanuts - Be Careful What You Wish For (2000)
Crossroads - Crossroads (2001)
The World Beyond Earth (ep) (2002) -- also released as The Law Of The Web as Peanuts
Promo 2005 (2005)
Eternal Dignity (2005)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin NL

Added: May 16th 2005
Reviewer: Scott Pierce
Score:
Artist website: www.day-six.com
Hits: 3150
Language: english

  

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