Reviews: Nine Days To No One - Disrecordings
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Unknown Zine
i wonder if i manage this......well done lads, absolutely amazing......if you like the feeling of a cheiften tank blasting pure molten heart in your ears, with a touch of holocaustic metal in the form of noisey hard bloody work bombs get it now, slap into your system and take cover! a masterpiece. 10/10
Sound Devastation (http://www.sounddevastation.tk)
OK, so I've had this a bit, before Novena even got signed to Engineer. And I thought it was about bloody time I reviewed this piece of art. For that is what it is. Describing themselves perhaps jokingly as 'art-core', this is closer to the truth than maybe they realize!
'Gala Contemplating...' open up proceedings and is overall the simplest and hard hitting of the tracks on the EP - a sign that Novena do not go into their more arty personalities for the hell of it. The track rip roars through its cranky 3 and half minutes so of life and is a silencer to the listener. I'll explain what I mean by this. If Novena had opened up with one of the other tracks I believe the listener might not give them the time of day... This would be wrong but I believe it to be true. However, 'Gala...' is such a siren of intent from the band that the listener can but sit down and concentrate on the other tracks. The track also features guest vocals from Ben Philips, of the Guillaume Seam, who also recorded the EP.
What follows are four more tracks of astonishing maturity for a first recorded effort. The songs have obviously been lovingly cared for, this most evident in 'Screaming Blue Messiah, The Light of a Thousand Suns', the closing track to an excellent EP. So what to make of it all? The first and last tracks are amazing 'bookends' to a very interesting CD. All the tracks are sharp and above par. The one question that nags me is whether they could hold my attention for an entire album. That's the problem with reviewing EP's and demos - can the obvious potential be transferred to full efforts? Only time will tell - prove my intuition right lads!
For fans of: Isis, Cubic Space Division, Cult of Luna (originality the key parallel with these bands here).
8/10
suspect device #44
Fuck me, you are in for one big blow if you thought you were getting a whole load of Discharge covers. No, this is not that at all. Maybe I am more in the mood for this today, but it sounds good today. Yeah, a bit too busy with some fucking annoying breaks, but when the drums are pounding & the guitars are thrashing, I like this.
5 songs in 25 minutes. The heavy screamy bits are pretty damn good.
Mass Movement (http://wakeup.to/massmovement)
Thankyou Satan, thou art blessing thy trusted servants... OK, getting back to reality, where the f**k did this lot come from and how come i haven't heard them before? Imagine the Dillinger Escape Plan easing up the gas doing the screamo thing with metal flowing through their veins fed on a steady diet of Fugazi.
Can you picture it? You can? Good, the images and sounds in your mind, guess what? They've got a name. It's Nine Days To No One. Yeah, It really is that good, and a little scary at the same time. But what's life without a little fear? As beautiful as a crooked politician being crushed under the wheels of a 4x4. (Tim).
Bizarre front cover that reminds me of sort of a new millenium version of the old Judas Priest Sad wings of destiny cover contains five off kilter tracks of sound musical ideas. These guys have full use of their brains and you will thank them for it. As usual though the only problem is some of the vocals.
More of that screaming. But not all the time. The bizarre recorded in a tin can production only makes me like these guys that much more. The best thing i can say about Nione Days to no one is that they appear to be unafraid to look out of the box for inspiration, which is only a good thing. I wouldn't be suprised if their next release was awesome, they could certainly do it. (Brian).
Neil Woodfin (Power Play)
This five track EP is the debut release from Nine Days To No One and it kicks off with fine style with the chaotic, dicordant blast of "Gala Contemplating...". This leads straight into the slower second track, "Alban Mount", which starts off sounding strangely reminiscent of White Pony era Deftones with its hautning ambience which is interspersed with a jarring Neurosis-esque riff. Both tracks three and four follow asimilar mix of ambience and disonant riffs, and the Dillinger Escape Plan inspired chaos doesn't reappear until the final song, the fantastically named, 'screaming Blue Messiah, the Light of a Thousand Suns", which doesn't quite live upto the excellence of the title but it comes pretty close. Nine Days To No One have delivered an interesting listen with Disrecordings, but I think they have more potential than the finished article just now. One for the "ones to watch" file I think.
JK (permanentvictim.com)
As soon as this album starts, the fury begins! I thought I would label this metalcore, but something inside me says a stern no! This was until someone mentioned "Artcore"... Who needs genres anyway?
The techical fury of the first few seconds of this album (track: "Gala Contemplating") develops into a strangely melodic masterpiece. Track two, "Alban Mount" is more of an atmospheric, semi-instrumental, haunting but not too dark. From this point on the style changes. There is less of the bolty guitar odf "Gal aContemplating", and more of a Will Haven-esque droning guitar. I do of course mean droning in agood way, moving away from the technical guitar approach. The final three tracks are incredibly evocative pieces. Although there is a deep sincerity to their sound, this is also a haunting part to each song (reming me of Factory 81's strange vocals, without the rap).
This album is extremely unique, and very likeable for fans of Converge, Will Haven, Poison The Well, SkyCameFalling. 9/10
Andrew Kelhan (Rocksound)
Madness, utter madness. This debut EP from the latest signing to Engineer's roster is absolutely all over the shop. The opener, "Gala Contemplating...", braces speed metal, chaotic hardcore, anthemic rock and a Phil Collins-era drum solo, all whilst clocking in under four minutes. 8/10
Listrening to Nine Days To No One is a running-to-catch-up experience first round, their constant direction changes leave you confused and absolutely bewildered. However, once the panic dies down and you dare to put the record back in for another whirl, tracks like "Averance" morph from an indecipherable mess into a splendid orgy of styles and sounds. The music created by Nine Days is so dense it needs time to be broken down and digested; this is a great beginning and one to look out for in the future.
Terrorizer
Nine Days To No One take their cues from Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge and co, but they churn it all up with the sounds of a metal-core juggernaut and unleash upon us all something new. Do not lose sight of them for a second!
Phil Hammer (Big Cheese)
More interesting than the average take on serial killer metal.
This kind of psychotic hardcore/ metal seems to be big news nowadays. Many a band are churning out gut wrenching screams, winding riffs and head spinning time changes to a rapidly expanding fanbase, to the groundwork laid down by the likes of Converge and drowning Man. Which is where Nine Days To No One obviously take some of their musical cues from. But rather than being mere copyists, this is a band willing to experiment a little, mixing up their tight yet chaotic riffage with gentle ambience and haunting melodies. Whilst they have a lot further to go before their name is uttered in the same breath as the aforementioned heavyweights, this is without a doubt an impressive offering that should be welcomed into the underground with open arms. 3/5
Source Lost During Site Update
Here shine four Englishmen a good 'Metalcore Inferno' like it is normally done only in Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, etc. The six songs please me quite well, especially the second track 'Alban Mount' comes in the quiet parts from high singing here, almost a lovely Mike Patton feeling on it. It then becomes more brutal. The song wins me over somewhat like Isis. The drummer of the band has previously played in an Acid Jazz Combo, which you can hear in it at a stretch. The whole thing is metallic and quite heavily produced, and every fan of weight should also enjoy it. The atmospheric parts seem deep and are something of a balance against the fast parts, like in 'Gala Contemplating' Tool and bone is everyones thing. Nine days to No One have definitely overcooked me, and Engineer Records lead their series of skilful quality publications further.
Defiant Conviction (Gaz)
The incredible debut release from the UK's Nine Days has already been compared to Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Cave In, Red Roses for A Blue Lady, Eden Maine, Isis, etc and seems set to join the ranks of your favourites. The sound they create is dark, powerful and often eerie. Nine Days are not afraid of controlling the sound they create, one minute bombarding you with a violent, off kilter, wall of sound, the next leaving you washed over in a pool of haunting ambience.
Source Lost During Site Update
Sweet mother of God, this is one sick metalcore outfit from Kent, UK. Starting out with the sickest blastbeats and grind-vocals around, spit out by lead-singer Steve and guest-vocalist and sound-engineer Ben Philips (of the just as sick The Guilaume Seam that to my knowledge sadly only released a three-track single) making way for a perfect start. This isn't just your average sicko grind/metalcore though. There's a wide variety of things going on here through the five tracks present. There are almost jazzy moments at times, psychedelic prog-feelings and, well, lots of concentrated noise. My guess is that this is not the last we've heard of Nine Days To No One.
Source Lost During Site Update
Opening like a barrage of cluster bombs being dropped in your back garden. Kent based Nine days to no one set the opening tone to their debut EP by teraing your face off with 'Gla Contemplating...', a violent blastbeat intro transcends into absolute mayhem with vocal trade offs between Nine Days front man, Steve and guest vocals from Ben Phillips (formerly of The Guillaume Seam and who engineered the record). A short way in and the pace progreeses into a hardcore groove-ladden weight section the its building on the pace again into the chorus with some melodic vocals, Angular rythms and back to grind for the close. Nine days to no one, however, are not all about out and out heaviness though, they have something differant on offer. Alongside the calculated insanity comes these dark, brooding and eclectic oundscapes. 'Alban Mount' displays Nine days to no one's forte, with a hauntingly quiet guitar ringing somewhere in the distance enters Steve's eery high pitched vocals shortly followed by a foundation of off kilter breakbeats and groove enhancing bass building into a hypnotic monument of noise. Constantly Nine days are moving things foward, they have a varied and mature sound which seems natural to them, they are not easy to catagorise or label as sounding like (insert band here), nearest comparisons would be bands like Neurosis, Isis, Earthtone9 etc... for the fact that thses bands don't seem to have any built in limitations. Steve is constantly pushing his voice to breaking point, there is something wholesome and convincing about this which other bands simply can't pull off. 'Sangreal' and 'Averance' are anthemic, punishing onslaughts of visceral emotion. Nine days to no one offer plenty to keep the pit busy, but at the same time they have put together some highly listenable intelligent tracks. 'Disrecordings' sounds fresh and unaffected by recent trends of late. This is an excellent, uncompromising debut release.
Metal Hammer (Tommy Udo)
Promising debut from Kent Metalcore Bruisers. The debut EP by Kent based nine days to no one is yet another case of a British band taking thier cue from the edgy metalcore being churned out in the wake of The dillinger escape plan, Converge et al and turning it into something new. It's intriguing stuff as they lurch between jazzy flourishes, snatches of ultra heavy grind and flashes of ultra techy prog. The other great thing is that they infuse alot of original thought into the structure of the music, whether that is the etheral chior on 'Sangreal' or the Sabbath like middle section of 'Screaming Blue Messiah'. Unfourtunatly it suffers from demo-standard recording which is a pity becuase everything about this from the gorgeous cover art to the songs themselves is of a pretty high standard.
Daredevil Records (Jochen)
WOW! What a blast from Kent/UK. These 4 guys kick ass. Controlled aggression, controlled hatred! That is my first thought! GALA CONTEMPLATING is high speed blast with extreme vocals. But with ALBAN MOUNT the band shows the so called emotional side. Very relaxed...some Tool influences and what a song! This is a mix of the mighty Deftones, Tool, Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge!! This band is outstanding! ADERANCE is another heavy New Hardcore song. To describe the music of NDTNO I will try something between ultra heavy grind, some Prog elements, a lot of emotion and no fucking copy! But with a lot of emotions. This band will be huge. I think they are better than most of the other well-known Metalcore bands! This is highest standard! I`m anxious to hear more of them! And what a fantastic artwork!!! Everything is perfect! If you like the above mentioned bands (especially Converge, Dillinger, Burst...) get it!! It is a must have!
Banned World (Dan O'Driscoll)
Ripping the shit out of your stereo and your ear drums, Kent based Art-core band Nine Days To No One's sound will rip your body limb from limb and leave you begging for more. Opening their new CD is Gala Contemplating, a fast aggressive and violent track featuring guest vocalist Ben Phillips. Extreme noise progresses into the some of the heaviest riffs you will hear from a band before bring it back to the original riff to end the song. Truly magnificent. Not only do the band have a huge loud and aggressive noise sound but an amazingly dark and ambionic sound that can be heard on Alban Mount. The song begins with evil sounding ambience with high pitched melodic vocals leading into a short heavy noise section before chilling out again and melody kicking in. The track then comes to a close with a fast rhythmic riff accompanied by double bass drum patterns and melodic vocals. Nine Days To No One are individual and sound nothing like anything heard before. A unique and impressive first release from this Kent based Band. The kind of noise that would well as a soundtrack to good beating with a baseball bat!
