Mascot (label)
16 October 2015 (released)
07 October 2015
I am not generally a lover of Thrash Metal or metalcore but there are exceptions and Counting Days are definitely one.
Their heart and soul is in thrash and punk but they create a maelstrom of sound that has melody and musicality built into it and the playing is of a heartening standard – I’ve heard too many in this genre whose sole talent lies in a screaming vocalist and little else: Counting Days boast an awesome drummer in Lascelle Lewis (ex-TRC) and vocalist Thomas Debaere while guitarists Charlie Wilson (also from TRC) and Bobby Daniels (ex-Last Witness) add real texture as well as covering melody and moments of great subtlety. The final piece is bass player Alex Dench (purloined from Rough Hands) whose heart stopping bass lines are the stuff of many a circle pit.
This is full-on and all-out metalcore with tinges of punk and shredcore but still very listenable and some tracks are genuinely massive – ‘Burned By Faith’ and the title track are coruscating rip-your-face-off numbers – while ‘Fire From The Sky’ has probably the strongest melody on the album, as well as the most memorable riff. ‘The Vines’ shows the bands softer side – but no less intense or discomforting.
As a debut album this is one of the hottest I’ve heard in a while and the band look like being leaders in the scene for a long while to come – now time to breathe again.
