Well, A Day in Black and White are from DC actually yet they aren’t on Dischord but on Charlottesville/VA based label Level Plane that might be less legendary but has released some really amazing bands, too, like Saetia, Hot Cross, Envy or Lack to name just a few. This particular record is no exception in terms of quality, a really solid posthardcore record. The roots seem to be in the late 80s, early 90s DC sound and the whole record is rather mid tempo.

Kurt Ballou who also produced Converge, Isis or Since By Man created quite a special sound. The record is very much dominated by mid frequencies which gives it a sort of heavy appearance that is very rock. Still the stereo divided guitars don’t just produce a wall of sound but play interesting patterns each that are kept together by a very warm bass that lays a solid fundament while the drums keep driving the whole car straight forward. As typical for posthardcore there is a dynamic between more silent and louder parts. In this case the more silent parts are more like a hectic breathtaking before the machine starts rolling again.

One thing that is really needs to get used to is the vocals that are doubled all the time and are rather monotonous. No screaming and not exalted angriness here but rather a pessimistic kind of interior monologue, kinda introverted. And I don’t know if I think a zebra on cover of a band called A Day in Black and White is funny or profound or just silly. Maybe I just don’t get the point but there is photo in the booklet of the drummer playing drums in front of a giant wall of vinyl records. That one really got me impressed! So in the end we got a solid posthardcore record that moves along the ass kicking border of this genre and that should make an excellent record for driving on highways by night as it is constantly adrenaline driven and got some brilliant noisy outbreaks that I really like. Hope to see them at the Astrastube in may…  [jan]

www.dayinblackandwhite.com